The product name created by combining “Big” with “Mac” was Big Mac.
Jim Delligatti, a McDonald’s franchisee in the Pittsburgh area, created the sandwich in 1967. It used two beef patties, a sesame-seed bun with a middle section, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, and the sauce later widely associated with the product. The name was proposed by an advertising secretary, Esther Glickstein Rose.
The Big Mac became a major branding asset because its name was short, distinctive, and easy to recognize. McDonald’s introduced it nationally in 1968 after regional testing, and the product became one of the chain’s signature menu items.
The Big Mac name is sometimes treated as if it referred only to the sandwich’s size. “Big” contributed to that impression, but “Mac” directly connected the product to McDonald’s. It is also different from the Quarter Pounder, whose name describes the uncooked weight of its beef patty.