One of the most classic radio receivers ever made was the National HRO. The way in which the model number of the receiver was designated is interesting, and the story is related by Ed Gable who is on the Board of the Directors of the Antique Wireless Association (AWA) and a former employee of the National Company.
"Several years ago, I had the pleasure of visiting with James Millen, the former president of National at his estate outside Boston. This was a special occasion since he was donating his entire, collection of National equipment to the AWA. It was there that he gave us his personal, original, 1935 vintage HRO receiver, as well as a truck full of historical artifacts from the National company. At that time, James retold the story to myself and to several others. At the National plant, certain work orders in their pre-production shop were marked HOR for 'Hell of a Rush' order. James (and probably Dana Bacon) decided that should be the name of their new receiver but even in those days, HOR was politically incorrect so the letters were switched to HRO. The rest is history".
Who knows how many other products that we use on a daily basis have model numbers designated by the initials of people, birthdays or whatever else happened to fancy the whim of the designer at that moment in time.