The Kiwifruit Was Named After the Kiwi Bird (New Zealand)

The naming actually works in reverse: the Chinese gooseberry was renamed 'kiwifruit' specifically because it resembles the native kiwi bird of New Zealand. When New Zealand exported the fruit post-WWII, marketing strategists rebranded it from 'Chinese gooseberry' (which sounded foreign) to 'kiwifruit,' associating it with New Zealand's iconic flightless bird. The kiwi bird (named by Māori from its call) long predated the fruit's commercial introduction. However, popular understanding often assumes the fruit came first, naming the bird. This reflects how contemporaneous emergence of products and names can obscure actual causal direction. Modern New Zealanders typically know the correct order, though the confusion persists internationally.