The fascinating backstories behind the naming of Kit Kat  - HT School (2024)

FAQs

How did the Kit Kat get its name? ›

The Beginning

This delectable snack consisted of layers of wafer cake, covered in creamy milk chocolate. Fast forward to now, and we all know and love it as Nestle KitKat. This somewhat simple name was derived from the Kit Kat Club, an exclusive 18th-century club for the elite in London.

The KIT KAT^® Bar got its start across the pond in 1935. Originally known by Londoners as “Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp,” the candy was renamed in 1937 to “Kit Kat^® Chocolate Crisp.” While KIT KAT^® Bars are a global confection, The Hershey Company has produced the candy in the U.S. since 1970.

noun. /ˈkɪt kæt/ /ˈkɪt kæt/ ​a popular chocolate bar sold in Britain. Each one consists of two or four bars of wafer (= layers of thin biscuit) covered in chocolate.

This name closely resembles the phrase kitto katsutoo (きっと勝つとぉ), meaning 'you shall surely win'. In Japanese, kitto mean 'surely' or 'certainly' and katsu means 'to win'. For this reason, Kit-Kats are given to students not just as treats, but as good luck charms before important exams.

Other Kit Kat fans speculate that the name is an acronym for “Keep In Touch, Kappa Alpha Theta.” The wife of Kit Kat inventor Joseph Rowntree was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, according to Mental Floss.

Fry & Sons and currently manufactured by Cadbury. Launched in 1866—nineteen years after Fry's created the first moulded, solid chocolate eating bar (in 1847)— Fry's Chocolate Cream is the first mass-produced chocolate bar and is the world's oldest chocolate bar brand.

The traditional bar has four fingers which each measure approximately 1 centimetre (0.4 in) by 9 centimetres (3.5 in). A two-finger bar was launched in the 1930s, and has remained the company's best-selling biscuit brand ever since.

Invented in York in 1935 as 'Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp', the name 'KitKat' was adopted a couple of years later. The brand has gone on to become a worldwide phenomenon, with 17 billion KitKats eaten across the globe every single year.

It's a chocolate-covered wafer (or possibly just chocolate). But did you ever wonder what's inside the wafer? As it turns out, every break of a Kit Kat bar is its own little Kit Kat-ception. The wafers are filled with other Kit Kats.

KITKAT: Kiss in Time, Kiss at Time.

What is a Kit Kat slang word? ›

[rhy. sl.; kit-kat = prat n. 1 (5)] a fool, a general term of abuse.

Origin:Greek. Meaning:Pure, clean, clear. Snappy and sweet, there's a lot to love about Kat. This Greek girl's name, a shortened form of Katherine and Catherine, means "pure." It comes from the Greek term katharos, which means "clean," "pure," or "clear," and can serve as a reminder of baby's innocence.

(Nestlé's website, too, is more forthcoming about the origin of the name Kit Kat, explaining that it was derived from the nickname of a man named Christopher Catling, or “Kit Cat,” who started “an 18th century Whig literary club.”)

Marketing for Kit Kats in Japan is believed to have benefited from the coincidental false cognate with "Kitto Katsu", a phrase meaning "You will surely win" in Japanese. Some market research has shown that the brand is strongly correlated to good luck charms, particularly among students ahead of exams.

Consistent Tagline

Since its first commercial appearance in 1958, the tagline 'Have a break, have a KitKat' has never changed. The phrase is catchy and easy to remember.

[rhy. sl.; kit-kat = prat n. 1 (5)] a fool, a general term of abuse.

The first use of the tagline 'Have a Break. Have a Kit Kat', written by the agency's Donald Gilles, can be traced to May 1957. A year later it was used on the first television spots for the brand and ever since has been a staple of campaigns for the chocolate bar.

The name is a portmanteau of "twin sticks". Twix was called Raider in mainland Europe for many years before its name was changed in 1991 (2000 in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Turkey) to match the international brand name.

KITKAT: Kiss in Time, Kiss at Time. PERK: Perfect Emotional Romantic Kiss.