Where does the name Häagen-Dazs come from?

Have you ever wondered where the name Häagen-Dazs comes from? Personally, I thought it was Dutch, because of the two “aa” or even because of Den Haag. In fact, this famous ice-cream brand was established by two Polish immigrants (well done Poland!) Reuben and Rose Mattus in the Bronx, New York, in 1961. Häagen-Dazs are made-up words that are meant to look (but are not) Scandinavian to the American eyes. This form of foreign branding served one purpose, to make the product look exotic and thus exciting enough to try. The Mattus couple had even included an outline map of Scandinavia in their early labels together with the names Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen to reinforce the Scandinavian theme.

But the name Häagen-Dazs was merely the outcome of a word game of random nonsensical words that Reuben Mattus started in order to find a combination that pleased him.