George Eastman, recorded exactly how he came up with the name Kodak, a very rare occurrence in the world of name origins. "A trade name must be short", wrote Eastman, “vigorous, incapable of being misspelled to an extent that will destroy its identity, and, in order to satisfy trademark laws, it must mean nothing. The letter K had been a favorite with me - it seemed a strong, incisive sort of letter. Therefore the word I wanted had to start with K. Then it became a question of trying out a great number of combinations of letters that made words starting and ending with K. The word Kodak is the result...”

http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/more/884/