Pepsi-Cola was the brand Caleb Bradham created when he renamed his drink in 1898.
Bradham, a pharmacist in New Bern, North Carolina, had originally sold the beverage as “Brad’s Drink.” In 1898 he changed the name to Pepsi-Cola, a name associated with his belief that the drink could aid digestion and with the kola-nut flavoring used in cola beverages.
The drink’s name later became simply Pepsi in much of its branding. Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola developed as competing cola brands, although their corporate histories and ownership structures differed substantially.
This question concerns the 1898 renaming, not Pepsi’s earlier original name. It also should not be confused with PepsiCo, the later corporation formed in 1965 through the merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay.