What was the original name of MetLife when it was founded in New York in 1868?

MetLife was founded in 1868 as the National Union Life and Limb Insurance Company.

The company began by providing insurance against death or disability caused by accidents, a narrower business than the life insurance associated with the modern MetLife brand. It later shifted toward ordinary life insurance and adopted the name Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in 1868, shortly after its formation.

The name is often confused with MetLife’s later public identity. “Metropolitan” became the important part of the brand, while “National Union Life and Limb” describes the company’s original legal and commercial focus. MetLife expanded substantially in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, particularly through industrial life insurance sold to working-class customers.

MetLife is now an international insurance and financial-services group. Its early name is useful historical evidence of how accident insurance and life insurance overlapped during the industry’s development in the United States.