“Nikkor” is the abbreviation of the company name “Nikko (NIKKO)” plus “R”
Succeeded in trial production of “Anita”, camera lens prospect of manufacturing with the Japanese optical industry, the brand name of the lens in 1932 was defined as “NIKKOR (Nikkor)”. This name is the abbreviation of the company name “Nippon Kogaku Kogyo”, “Nikko = NIKKO”, plus the “R” that is often used at the end of the name of a photographic lens. The first product with the name “NIKKOR” was the aerial camera lens “Aero-NIKKOR” made in 1933.
Nikon camera name that may have been “Nikorette”
Nikon Kogyo started manufacturing cameras after the Pacific War. In 1946, while developing a small 35mm camera, the camera name was decided as “Nikon”. By adding “N” to the end of “NIKKO”, which is an abbreviation of Nippon Kogaku Kogyo, the brand name is masculine and has a good tone. The camera under development was tentatively called “Nikorette”, but it seems that it became “Nikon” because it was judged to be weak as a product name. The camera, tentatively called “Nikorette,” was released in 1948 as the 35mm rangefinder-linked camera “Nikon.” It will be called “Nikon I type” later to distinguish it from the successor camera. Rangefinder cameras starting with type I are called “S series”.
