Size and presence
27.5% of franchise networks have an English word in their name, a share that goes from 15.2% in the oldest to 30.2% in the newest
of franchise networks have at least one English word in the brand name, according to the declared list
See the full table (16 rows)
| Word or family | Networks | Share | Up to 1989 | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | Since 2020 | Other establishments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At least one English word (declared list) | 593 | 27.5% | 15.2% | 24.7% | 21.4% | 29.1% | 30.2% | 9.9% |
| English or common loanword (extended list) | 670 | 31.1% | 17.7% | 25.8% | 26.0% | 32.0% | 37.5% | 15.3% |
| Casa | 15 | 0.7% | fewer than 5 | fewer than 5 | fewer than 5 | 0.8% | fewer than 5 | 1.2% |
| Mania | 6 | 0.3% | 0 | 0 | fewer than 5 | fewer than 5 | 0 | 0.4% |
| Express, Expresso or Xpress | 26 | 1.2% | 0 | 0 | fewer than 5 | 1.9% | 1.8% | 0.5% |
| Dr., Doutor or Doctor | 30 | 1.4% | 0 | 0 | 1.6% | 1.5% | 2.2% | 1.0% |
| Mr., Mister, Sr. or Senhor | 20 | 0.9% | fewer than 5 | fewer than 5 | fewer than 5 | 0.8% | fewer than 5 | 0.2% |
| Dona, Seu, Tio, Vó and similar | 29 | 1.3% | 0 | 0 | fewer than 5 | 2.1% | 1.8% | 0.8% |
| Rei, King, Royal or Rainha | 17 | 0.8% | 0 | fewer than 5 | fewer than 5 | 1.0% | fewer than 5 | 0.4% |
| Mundo, World or Planeta | 12 | 0.6% | 0 | fewer than 5 | 0 | 1.2% | fewer than 5 | 0.4% |
| Brasil, Brazil or Brasileira | 23 | 1.1% | fewer than 5 | fewer than 5 | fewer than 5 | 1.1% | fewer than 5 | 0.8% |
| Mais or Plus | 10 | 0.5% | 0 | 0 | fewer than 5 | 0.7% | 0 | 0.5% |
| Super, Mega, Ultra or Max | 16 | 0.7% | 0 | fewer than 5 | 1.9% | 0.7% | fewer than 5 | 0.4% |
| Top, Prime, Premium or Gold | 17 | 0.8% | 0 | fewer than 5 | 2.3% | fewer than 5 | fewer than 5 | 1.0% |
| Smart | 14 | 0.6% | 0 | fewer than 5 | fewer than 5 | 0.7% | fewer than 5 | 0.1% |
| Cia, Company or Companhia | 16 | 0.7% | fewer than 5 | fewer than 5 | 2.6% | 0 | fewer than 5 | 0.5% |
English word by decade of the first unitNetworks with at least 5 CNPJs, with a 95% confidence interval by the Wilson method. The column without a foreign contract removes the 42 networks in the universe whose brand appears in a franchise contract with a foreign licensor at INPI. The last column shows other establishments in the same activities, by decade of opening of the CNPJ.
| First unit | Networks | With an English word | 95% interval | Without a foreign contract | Other establishments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 1989 | 79 | 15.2% | 8.9 to 24.7 | 14.3% | 6.0% |
| 1990s | 178 | 24.7% | 19.0 to 31.5 | 23.8% | 5.1% |
| 2000s | 308 | 21.4% | 17.2 to 26.3 | 20.8% | 5.6% |
| 2010s | 728 | 29.1% | 25.9 to 32.5 | 28.9% | 8.8% |
| Since 2020 | 275 | 30.2% | 25.1 to 35.8 | 30.2% | 12.3% |
Most frequent wordsThe 40 words present in the most networks, out of the 2,155 in the universe, excluding articles, prepositions and single letters. Each word counts once per network, with plurals and variants counted separately.
| Word | Networks | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Açaí | 34 | 1.6% |
| Express | 24 | 1.1% |
| Pizza | 21 | 1.0% |
| Brasil | 19 | 0.9% |
| Pet | 18 | 0.8% |
| Café | 17 | 0.8% |
| Óticas | 15 | 0.7% |
| Saúde | 15 | 0.7% |
| The | 14 | 0.6% |
| Casa | 14 | 0.6% |
| Studio | 14 | 0.6% |
| Smart | 13 | 0.6% |
| Go | 12 | 0.6% |
| Burger | 12 | 0.6% |
| Idiomas | 12 | 0.6% |
| Seguros | 12 | 0.6% |
| Mr | 12 | 0.6% |
| Academia | 11 | 0.5% |
| Solar | 11 | 0.5% |
| Sorvetes | 11 | 0.5% |
| Vistorias | 11 | 0.5% |
| Rede | 11 | 0.5% |
| Lavanderia | 10 | 0.5% |
| Mix | 10 | 0.5% |
| Fit | 10 | 0.5% |
| Visão | 10 | 0.5% |
| Laser | 10 | 0.5% |
| Fast | 10 | 0.5% |
| Empada | 10 | 0.5% |
| Club | 10 | 0.5% |
| House | 10 | 0.5% |
| Cia | 10 | 0.5% |
| Dr | 10 | 0.5% |
| Gym | 9 | 0.4% |
| Spa | 9 | 0.4% |
| Kids | 9 | 0.4% |
| Escola | 9 | 0.4% |
| Dog | 9 | 0.4% |
| Odonto | 9 | 0.4% |
| Vida | 8 | 0.4% |
By segmentShare with an English word and number of networks in selected word families. Cells with fewer than 5 networks are not published.
| Segment | Networks | With an English word | 95% interval | Casa | Express | Dr. or Doutor | Mr. or Senhor | Rei or King | Smart |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Services and other businesses | 697 | 27.7% | 24.5 to 31.1 | 5 | 11 | 9 | fewer than 5 | fewer than 5 | 11 |
| Food | 535 | 27.7% | 24.0 to 31.6 | 7 | 9 | fewer than 5 | 13 | 7 | 0 |
| Health, beauty and wellness | 340 | 21.8% | 17.7 to 26.5 | 0 | 6 | 17 | fewer than 5 | fewer than 5 | fewer than 5 |
| Fashion and accessories | 206 | 21.4% | 16.3 to 27.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | fewer than 5 | fewer than 5 | 0 |
| Food, retail and distribution | 127 | 25.2% | 18.5 to 33.4 | fewer than 5 | 0 | fewer than 5 | fewer than 5 | fewer than 5 | 0 |
| Education | 124 | 33.9% | 26.1 to 42.6 | fewer than 5 | 0 | 0 | fewer than 5 | 0 | fewer than 5 |
| Gyms and sports | 87 | 56.3% | 45.9 to 66.3 | 0 | 0 | fewer than 5 | 0 | fewer than 5 | fewer than 5 |
| Tourism and hospitality | 39 | 28.2% | 16.5 to 43.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| All networks | 2,155 | 27.5% | 25.7 to 29.4 | 15 | 26 | 30 | 20 | 17 | 14 |
List of words treated as EnglishMain list, with 403 forms, including joined words. Extended list, with common loanwords: bar, box, burguer, center, container, containers, delivery, design, face, fitness, franchise, laser, light, master, mix, net, online, personal, pet, plus, pop, premium, pro, rock, senior, shopping, show, spa, studio, studios, tech, top, vip.
| Words |
|---|
| academy, action, agility, air, airlocker, all, allbags, american, and, angels, arch, artwalk, at, authentic, baby, bakery, barber, beans, bear, beat, beauty, bee, beef, beer, bell, berry, bespeak, best, big, bike, bilingual, bioclean, bird, black, blend, blue, bluefit, body, bodytech, bootcamp, bowls, bread, british, broker, brothers, brow, bubble, bubblekill, build, burger, burgers, business, buybye, by, car, card, care, carflix, cat, charged, chargers, checkmat, chicken, chips, class, clean, clear, clinic, cloud, club, coach, coffee, coffeetown, cold, colors, company, concept, consulting, cookie, cookies, corn, courier, coworking, craft, creamery, cross, day, days, dead, deep, diamond, doctor, dog, donuts, dotbank, draft, dress, dresses, drop, dry, dryjet, easy, easy2go, ecosmetics, ecospeed, education, eleven, energy, english, evolve, excellence, exclusive, express, expressive, eyewear, facebeauty, facilities, facility, factory, famous, fast, fast4you, faster, feet, field, finance, first, fit, fitland, flash, flat, flipwash, flow, fly, flynow, flyworld, food, for, four, fox, franchising, freeray, freewet, fresh, fridays, frogway, frozen, fruit, fry, fuel, full, garage, get, giants, gifts, go, go4party, gold, golden, good, goodbe, graphics, green, greenjoy, grill, group, grow, gym, hands, happy, hard, head, help, hey, high, home, homehub, honest, hooters, hope, hostnet, hot, house, hut, ice, idiomatch, in, inn, inspire, iopoint, iphome, it, jet, job, joker, joy, juice, juistreet, jumper, just, keep, kick, kickers, kid, kids, king, kings, kitchen, lab, lady, laundromat, laundry, legacy, life, lifefit, lift, line, little, live, love, lovers, low, lube, magicfeet, mail, make, man, many, maple, market, market4u, match, mednet, men, milk, milky, minds, mister, mobile, monster, move, mr, much, my, nails2you, nature, neomarket, new, now, number, nutrition, nutty, oak, oakberry, of, off, office, oil, one, open, orange, organic, outback, outer, outlet, paint, park, payperlav, peppers, perfect, petland, petlove, phone, pizzadog, place, planet, play, playground, point, polishop, pool, porter, post, potisigns, power, prime, princess, print, prize, prohouse, protect, pulse, pure, purple, quick, race, ranch, rent, respect, roasted, robot, rockets, roll, routes, royal, safe, sales, school, seazone, select, selfit, sense, service, seven, shake, shape, shelf, shine, shoes, shop, simple, skate, sky, sleep, slim, slimcenter, smart, smartphone, sneakers, snow, socks, soft, solution, speasy, special, spider, sports, stalker, stand, star, start, station, steak, steakhouse, steel, stone, storage, store, stroke, stylebar, styles, subway, sun, sunrize, sure, sweet, talents, tea, tender, tennis, tennisbar, the, thru, time, times, to, town, track, trading, transdesk, trip, truly, trust, twenty, ufit, uptime, usaflex, vanilla, vans, velocity, vertigarden, vision, vox2you, waffle, wash, way, waysushi, web, wedoctors, wepink, whey, wink, wise, wizard, world, xpert, xpress, xprime, yellow, yes, yeslaser, yogoberry, you |
A brand name is public information about each network and can be tabulated by decade and by segment. The indicator examines the names of the 2,155 networks in the observatory's universe, with a declared list of English words and of word families, and compares them, by decade of the first unit and by segment, with the trade names of other establishments in the same activities.
At least one English word appears in 27.5% of the brands, a share that reaches 31.1% with common loanwords such as pet, laser and studio. The list includes the networks' own brands, such as Subway and Oakberry, which could only appear on one side of the comparison. Without these 84 proper names and without splitting joined words, the share is 21.0% in the networks, 2.1 times that of other establishments in the same activities, at 9.9%. Removing the 42 networks identified with a foreign licensor contract at INPI (the national industrial property institute) changes the overall share little, which stands at 27.2%. By decade, the share goes from 15.2% in networks prior to 1990 to 29.1% in those from the 2010s and 30.2% in those that emerged since 2020, without a continuous rise, because the 1990s (24.7%) exceed the 2000s (21.4%). Among the segments, it ranges from 21.4% in fashion and accessories to 56.3% in gyms and sports.
The most frequent word is Açaí, in 34 networks, followed by Express, in 24, and Pizza, in 21. Word families have low frequency. Casa appears in 15 networks, Dr., Doutor or Doctor in 30, and Mania in 6 networks. The Express family brings together 26 networks, and none of those with an identified decade is earlier than 2000.
How we calculate
We start from the display name of each network in the observatory's universe. Words joined with an internal capital letter are split, as in BlueFit, accents are removed and each word is compared whole against fixed lists, so that a word inside another does not count, unless it is in the list of compounds. The main list, published below, comprises 403 forms, of which 84 are network proper names, and leaves out words in common use in Portuguese, which form the extended list. Each word family brings together spellings declared in the table and in the metadata. A name counts once in each list.
The decade is that of the first unit identified in the CNPJ (Brazilian company registry) records of Receita Federal (the federal tax authority), reference month October 2026, available for the 1,568 networks with at least 5 CNPJs, according to the birth of networks criterion. The comparison uses the 1% sample of the database, with 43,273 active establishments that have a trade name and have not opted for MEI (individual microentrepreneur regime), outside the CNPJ roots of the networks, in the 167 CNAE (national classification of economic activities) subclasses with at least 30 cases, weighted by the distribution of the units of the measured networks. The registry records names in capital letters, so the comparison uses, in both groups, the reading without splitting joined words and without the network proper names. With those names in the list, the shares would be 24.6% and 9.9%, and with only words present in two or more networks, 16.3% and 7.5%. The trend by decade is tested with the Cochran-Armitage procedure, with a z of 3.21 for English, and the intervals are Wilson intervals, at 95%.
What this figure does not show
- Classifying a word as English involves judgment, especially for loanwords, brands and proper names. The list is published to allow verification, and the extended list indicates the sensitivity of the result. It was built from the networks' names, which favors that side of the comparison even without the proper names, because an English word used only by other establishments is not included. Joined words without an internal capital letter count only when they are in the list of compounds, which tends to underestimate the share.
- The comparison is not between equals. In the networks, the unit is the brand, and in other establishments it is the name of each CNPJ, which includes people's names, abbreviated legal names and businesses of all sizes. Among other establishments, the title Dr. usually accompanies the name of a professional. The sample is 1% of the database.
- The universe comprises active networks, and names of defunct or renamed networks are not included. A network that changed its name appears with its current name in the decade of the first identified unit, which is approximate network by network, as described in birth of networks.
- The identification of foreign networks depends on the name matching the brand in a contract recorded at INPI, and that list does not cover all networks of foreign origin.
- The counts per family are small, with 14 families tested, and the difference between decades within a family should not be read as a trend. Only the result for English has a published interval and test.
Frequently asked questions
How many Brazilian franchises have English names?
Of the 2,155 franchise networks in the universe of the Franquias em Dados observatory, 593 have at least one English word in their name, equivalent to 27.5%, according to a published list of words. Excluding networks with a foreign licensor contract at INPI (the national industrial property institute), the share is 27.2%. With common loanwords, such as pet and laser, it rises to 31.1%.
What are the most common words in franchise names?
The most frequent words in the 2,155 brands in the observatory's universe are Açaí, in 34 networks, Express, in 24, Pizza, in 21, and Brasil, in 19, not counting articles and prepositions. The list combines the product sold, such as açaí and pizza, with positioning words, such as Express and Smart.
Do franchises use more English than other businesses?
The share is higher in the networks. In the same activities, with the same reading rule and without network proper names in the list, the share with an English word is 21.0% in franchise networks and 9.9% in other establishments with a trade name, in a 1% sample of the CNPJ (Brazilian company registry) records. The list was built from the networks' names, and the comparison is between brands and establishment names, which include businesses of all sizes.
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Size and presenceOther indicators in the same group
Maintained by Marktech, which serves franchise networks and franchises. The brands cited belong to their owners and are mentioned here only to identify the network the data refers to.