What does GEICO stand for? The name stands for Government Employees Insurance Company. It goes back to the company's start in 1936, when founders Leo and Lillian Goodwin set out to sell auto insurance to federal government employees and to certain members of the military.
That narrow group is long gone. The company now sells to the general public, but it kept the five letters as its brand. Most customers today have no tie to government work and may never have heard the full name.
Quick facts
Stands for
Government Employees Insurance CompanyType
Acronym, said as a wordHow to say it
GUY kohStarted
1936, by Leo and Lillian GoodwinOriginal customers
Federal employees and some military officersToday
Open to the general publicNot to be confused with
gecko, the lizard in its ads
What does GEICO stand for, piece by piece?
| Letter | Word | Its job in the name |
|---|---|---|
| G | Government | Names the original customer base |
| E | Employees | The people who worked for that government |
| I | Insurance | The kind of business |
| C | Company | The legal form, a company |
| O | (none) | Taken from the second letter of Company to make a word you can say |
Strictly, the first four letters, GEIC, cover the four words. The O comes from the next letter of Company, which turns an awkward string into a name that rolls off the tongue. Many brand names borrow an extra letter like this.
Why the founders aimed at government workers
The Goodwins believed that federal employees were, as a group, careful drivers who filed fewer claims. Insuring a lower risk group could keep costs down. The company also sold directly to customers by mail rather than through local agents, another way to save on expenses. Both ideas shaped the name: it told potential customers exactly who the company was built for.
Over the decades, the company widened who could buy a policy until anyone could apply. The name stayed, because by then it was well known.
How to say GEICO
Say it as a single word, "GUY koh." Nobody spells out the letters. That makes GEICO an acronym in the strict sense, a set of initials read as a word, like NASA. Initialisms, by contrast, are spoken letter by letter, as what is an acronym shows.
The company spells its name in all capitals. It opens with a hard G, so write "a" before it: "a GEICO policy," "a GEICO office."
GEICO and the gecko
The company's long running ads star a talking gecko, a play on how close "GEICO" sounds to the lizard's name. That wordplay helped the brand stick in people's heads, but the gecko has nothing to do with what the letters mean. If someone asks whether GEICO stands for a lizard, the answer is no; it is still Government Employees Insurance Company underneath.
Trivia night question: "The G in GEICO stands for what?" The answer is Government, from the company's original focus on federal workers.
Similar brand names built from initials
Several American companies began with long, plain names and now go by their letters. USAA started with a focus on military members. AAA is a motor club. You can browse more in the brand name acronyms list.
Questions people ask
What is the full form of GEICO?
The full form is Government Employees Insurance Company. The O at the end comes from the second letter of Company, which makes the name easy to say.
Do you have to be a government employee to use GEICO?
No. The company started out serving federal employees and some military members, but it has long been open to the general public.
Who founded GEICO?
Leo and Lillian Goodwin founded it in 1936. Their plan was to insure federal workers, whom they saw as a lower risk group of drivers.
Is the GEICO acronym related to the gecko?
Only through sound. The gecko in its ads is a pun on the name, while the letters stand for Government Employees Insurance Company.
How do you pronounce GEICO?
Say GUY koh, as one word, accent on GUY. It is never spelled out letter by letter.