Chevron was originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California.
The company traces its early history to the Pacific Coast Oil Company, founded in California in 1879. Standard Oil acquired Pacific Coast Oil in 1900, and after the 1911 breakup of the original Standard Oil trust, the California successor became the Standard Oil Company of California. It was commonly shortened to Socal or called California Standard.
The company adopted the Chevron name as a retail brand in the 1930s, but did not legally become Chevron Corporation until 1984. That change followed its merger with Gulf Oil, then one of the largest mergers in U.S. business history. Chevron later acquired Texaco in 2001 and briefly used the name ChevronTexaco Corporation.
A common mistake is to treat every Standard Oil successor as Chevron. Standard Oil of New Jersey became Exxon, Standard Oil of New York became Socony and later Mobil, and Standard Oil of Indiana became Amoco. Chevron specifically descends from the California branch.