EVERYBODY NAMED MERCEDES, WAS NOT NAMED AFTER THE CAR!
Mercedes is a name in the Spanish language. Often times, ladies who are named Mercedes get the nickname of Mecha in the Spanish speaking community.
ALSO!!!! THE CAR WAS NAMED AFTER THE DAUGHTER!
This is taken from the Official Website of Mercedes-Benz
http://www.mercedes-benz.com/com/e/h...age/index.html
Mercedes – a Spanish girls’ name meaning ‘grace’ – was the name of the daughter born in 1889 to the Austrian businessman, Emil Jellinek, who had homes in Baden near Vienna and Nice.
A progressive thinker with an interest in sport, Jellinek turned his enthusiasm to the dawning age of the automobile, an invention he knew would be of key importance for the future. As early as 1897, he made the journey to Cannstatt to visit the Daimler factory and ordered his first Daimler car - a 6 hp belt-driven vehicle with two-cylinder engine.
But the car, delivered in October 1897 and with a top speed of 24 km/h, was soon too slow for Jellinek. He demanded 40 km/h and ordered two more vehicles. Supplied in September 1898, the two Daimler “Phoenix” cars, with their front–mounted 8 hp engines, were the world’s first road vehicles with four-cylinder engines.
Emil Jellinek had good contacts with the worlds of international finance and the aristocracy and became increasingly active as a businessman. In 1898, he began to promote and sell Daimler automobiles - in particular, within the higher echelons of society. In 1899, DMG supplied Jellinek with 10 vehicles; in 1900, he received as many as 29.
Jellinek demanded ever faster and more powerful vehicles from DMG. From 1899, he also entered these in race meetings – first and foremost of which was the Nice week – where he would race under his pseudonym, ‘Mercédès’, the name of his daughter aged ten at the time. Initially, he used the name not as an automotive brand name but merely as a team and driver designation.
At the beginning of April 1900, Jellinek made an agreement with DMG concerning sales of Daimler cars and engines. The decision was taken to develop a new engine “bearing the name Daimler-Mercedes”, thereby introducing Jellinek's pseudonym as a product designation. Two weeks later, Jellinek ordered 36 of the vehicles at a total price of 550,000 marks – a sizeable order even at today’s equivalent value of DM 5.5 million. A few weeks later, he placed an order for another 36 vehicles, all with 8 hp engines.
Whew! One day we will all see the light! LOL......oh by the way if you haven't guessed, my name is Mercedes...LOL