Sometimes car makers seem unaware of an embarrassing name.
Despite having a name which means "a seizure in which the victim loses consciousness", Honda has not changed the US name of the Fit back to Jazz, which is what the hatchback is called in other countries.
We all know by now that "Pajero" suggests self-abuse, as does "La Crosse", but Mitsubishi and Buick respectively continue with these names.
Less well known is Toyota's now defunct "Moa" (it figures), and Chevy's "Nova" seemed to sell slowly in Latin countries, probably because its name can mean it doesn't go.
Some Japanese companies have even used "Saturday Afternoon Tea", "Lettuce Leaf", "Bongo" and the incomprehensible "That's" and "iSt".
Maybe this is why car makers avoid proper words when naming their vehicles; it avoids unintended consequences. You'll understand why when you see what your vehicle's name means.
Here's a sampling of current names and their definitions:
Accent - a way of pronouncing a language, associated with a country, area or social class (Hyundai);
Avalon - Celtic legend, the isle of the dead, where King Arthur and other heroes are taken after death (Toyota);
Cayman - or caiman, a Central and South American crocodile (Porsche);
Corvette - lightly armed escort vessel or sloop (Chevrolet);
Civic - relating to a city or town (Honda);
Enclave - a minority culture group living as an entity within a larger group (Buick);
Eos - the Greek goddess of dawn (Volkswagen);
Equinox - the time or date at which the sun crosses the celestial equator and when day and night are of equal length (Chevrolet);
Equus - Latin word for horse (Hyundai);
Escalade - the scaling of fortified walls using ladders, as a form of military attack (Cadillac);
Fiesta - a religious festival, especially a saint's day (Ford);
Fit - a seizure in which the victim loses consciousness (Honda);
Focus - the centre of interest or activity (Ford);
Forester - a person or animal living in a forest (Subaru);
Forte - the strongest part of the blade of a sword, between the middle and the hilt (Kia);
Fusion - a fusing or melting together (Ford);
Genesis - the way in which something comes to be (Hyundai);
Golf - an outdoor game played on a large course with a small, hard ball and a set of clubs (Volkswagen);
Impala - a graceful, slender, medium-sized herbivorous antelope (Chevrolet);
Insight - the ability to see and understand clearly the inner nature of things, especially by intuition (Honda);
Juke - outmanoeuvre by feint or other deceptive movement (Nissan);
Rio - Spanish word for river (Kia);
Rogue - a person or thing that is defective or unpredictable (Nissan);
Sequoia - a redwood tree (Toyota);
Sienna - an earth pigment containing iron and manganese oxides, yellow-brown in natural state and reddish brown when burnt (Toyota);
Sierra - A range of hills or mountains having a saw-toothed appearance from the distance (GMC, Suzuki, and Ford);
Sonata - a composition for one or two instruments, usually consisting of several movements (Hyundai);
Soul - an entity which is regarded as being the immortal or spiritual part of the person and, though having no physical or material reality, is credited with the functions of thinking and willing, and hence determines all behaviour (Kia);
Touareg - or Tuareg, a nomadic African tribe (Volkswagen);
Tundra - a vast, flat, treeless Arctic region of Europe, Asia and North America in which the subsoil is permanently frozen (Toyota);
Vantage - a place or position affording a good view (Aston Martin);
Volt - a turning movement or gait of a horse, in which it moves sideways around a centre point (Chevrolet).
-MCT