1-193-491 - National Motor Museum/Heritage Images

Mercedes Jellinek, c1900. Portrait of the daughter of businessman Emil Jellinek as a young girl. When he ordered 36 cars from the Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft in 1900, Jellinek stipulated two conditions; that he be the sole agent in Austria-Hungary, France and America, and that the cars begiven the name Mercedes, after his daughter. He himself had used the name as a pseudonym when entering motor races. The name caught on, and the company began to use it for all their cars, registering it as a trademark in 1902.