Starbucks was named after Starbuck, the chief mate in Herman Melville’s novel Moby-Dick.
Starbuck is a crew member aboard the fictional whaling ship Pequod. He is portrayed as thoughtful and cautious, contrasting with Captain Ahab’s obsessive pursuit of Moby Dick. The company’s founders chose the literary name while developing a brand connected to Seattle’s maritime and Pacific Northwest heritage.
The name was not created by adding a possessive apostrophe to “Starbuck” for a coffee-related pun. Starbucks uses the plural-looking form “Starbucks,” which became the company’s official name. The founders also considered names related to the region’s mining history before settling on the literary reference.
Moby-Dick was published in 1851, long before Starbucks existed. The connection is therefore a branding reference rather than a claim that the fictional character had any relationship with coffee or cafés.