What Does Airbnb Stand For?

What does Airbnb stand for, piece by piece?

The brand name joins two parts, and each one tells part of the origin story.

So the air bnb stand for question has a short answer: air mattress plus bed and breakfast. It is not a true acronym, because "air" is a whole word rather than a letter. It is better described as a blend, a brand name made by clipping a longer phrase. See acronym vs abbreviation for how these kinds of short forms differ.

Where the name came from

The company is widely described as starting in San Francisco in 2008, when its founders had trouble paying rent. A large design conference was in town and hotel rooms were scarce, so they set up air mattresses in their apartment and offered visitors a place to stay with breakfast included. They called the idea AirBed and Breakfast.

The early service grew beyond air mattresses quickly, as people began listing spare bedrooms and entire homes. The longer name was soon cut down to Airbnb, which is easier to say, type and remember. The original meaning survives only in the letters.

How to say and spell Airbnb

Most people say it in four beats: "AIR bee en bee." The b, n and b are read as letters, the way you would say B and B for a bed and breakfast.

• Capitals: the company writes Airbnb, with a capital A and the rest lowercase.
• Common misspellings: AirBnB, Air BnB and Air bnb all appear online, but they are not the official form.
• One word: the brand is written as one word, even though many people type "air bnb" with a space when they search.
• A or an: say "an Airbnb," because the name starts with a vowel sound.

What people mean when they say "an Airbnb"

In everyday speech the brand has turned into a common noun. "We rented an Airbnb at the lake" means the speaker booked a short-term rental through the service. People also use it loosely for vacation rentals in general, even when they booked somewhere else, which brand owners usually discourage.

Related terms you will see on a listing include host (the person renting out the space), guest (the traveler), check in and check out times, and house rules.

Bed and breakfast vs Airbnb

The "bnb" in the name points back to the traditional bed and breakfast, but the two are not the same thing.

• A classic bed and breakfast is usually a small inn run by an owner who lives on site and serves breakfast.
• An Airbnb listing can be a shared room, a private apartment, a cabin or a large house, and breakfast is rarely part of the deal.
• Many bed and breakfast inns now list their rooms on Airbnb as well, so the two can overlap.

When a sign or road map says B&B, it means bed and breakfast, not the brand.

Examples in sentences

• "Airbnb stands for AirBed and Breakfast, which explains the odd spelling."
• "Our Airbnb host left a map of the best coffee shops in town."
• "Check in at the Airbnb starts at 4 in the afternoon."
• "She rents out the apartment above her garage on Airbnb in the summer."
• "Is that an Airbnb or a regular hotel?"

For more company names with hidden full forms, see our roundup of brand name acronyms. When you read a rental address, our guide to the apartment abbreviation explains what Apt. means on the line below the street.