Who was the Austrian automobile entrepreneur whose daughter's name “Mercedes” was used? The answer is Emil Jellinek.
Emil Jellinek was an Austrian automobile entrepreneur, diplomat and influential customer of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft. He promoted Daimler cars among wealthy customers on the French Riviera and became closely involved in developing faster, more modern automobiles for competition and road use.
The name came from his daughter, Mercédès Jellinek, born in 1889. Jellinek used her Spanish name for his racing team and Daimler cars, and the Mercedes name became associated with a successful new model introduced around 1901. Daimler registered Mercedes as a trademark in 1902, cementing the name in the automobile world.
Jellinek later changed his own surname to Jellinek-Mercedes in 1903, an unusual tribute to his daughter. The Mercedes marque eventually became part of Mercedes-Benz after Daimler merged with Benz & Cie. in 1926. A common mistake is to credit Gottlieb Daimler or Karl Benz with creating the name itself; they were foundational engineers and company founders, but Jellinek supplied the personal connection behind “Mercedes.”