Like many other popular brands, many will know the name Aldi, however not as many will know what the letters actually stand for.
Some social media users have begun to find out, with many sharing their surprise with how clear and simple the name actually is. Founded in 1913 in Essen, Germany, the first store was opened by Anna Albrecht – which gives you half of the name, reports the Mirror.
The DI in the name comes from Diskont, which in English means Discount. Albrect-Diskont was then shortened to Aldi in 1961 by Anna's sons Karl and Theo, who took over the store after fighting in World World II.
Fans of the discount chain were shocked to learn the origin of the name, with one person on Twitter saying: "ALbrecht DIscount = ALDI who'd of known."
Another tweeted: "Probably the most useful thing I've learnt in German this year is that Aldi is short for Albrecht-Discount."
A third commented: "Never knew ALDI actually stood for something. It stands for Albrecht Discount believe it or not."
Karl and Theo expanded to more than 100 stores in 1955 and the first UK Aldi store opened in Birmingham in 1999.
Merging surname letters and initials appears to be somewhat of a theme in retail, with people discovering that Tesco was born out of tea supplier Thomas Edward Stockwell's initials 'TES' combined with the first two letters of owner Jack Cohen's surname 'CO'.
Similarly Asda is made up of two initials. Recently we told how the firm was named as a result of a merger as ASquith and DAiries (of Associated Dairies) came together on May 3 1965, resulting in the ASDA name we all know today.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - sign up to our daily newsletter here .
