Why Is It Called 'Garmin'? The Story Behind the Name

Day 103: Why Is It Called "Garmin"?

I've spent months talking about Garmin's features on this page — but never where the name itself comes from. It's a good story, and simpler than most people guess.

It started as ProNav

The company was founded in October 1989 in Kansas, not as Garmin, but as ProNav. Its first product wasn't a running watch or a bike computer — it was a GPS navigation system built for boats, at a time when GPS receivers were still bulky, expensive, and mostly military hardware.

A trademark dispute forced a rename

In 1991, ProNav ran into a trademark conflict and had to change its name. Rather than spend months workshopping something clever, the two founders did the simplest thing they could think of: they combined their own first names.

Gary Burrell and Min Kao. GAR-MIN. That's the entire naming story.

Who were Gary and Min?

Gary Burrell was an electrical engineer, and Min H. Kao holds a PhD in electrical engineering. Both had worked together previously at King Radio Corporation, and Kao had already helped build one of the first GPS navigators for Magnavox before co-founding Garmin. That combined aviation, marine, and GPS engineering background is why Garmin's earliest products targeted pilots and boaters — the running watch and fitness tracker business came much later.

From boats to your wrist

It took over a decade of GPS receivers, aviation avionics, and marine chartplotters before Garmin entered the fitness and wearables market with dedicated running GPS units, and eventually the modern smartwatch lineup that ended up on your wrist today. Same two first names on the box the whole time.