Starbuck was also one of the main characters in the original Battlestar Galactica.
But before he was either, he was first mate of the whaler "Pequod" (Moby Dick)
Had I started the company I'd have named it for Stubb -- a far more compelling -- and fun -- character. Then again, nobody would want to buy an overpriced coffee called "Stubbs..."
The literary roots of Starbucks go further than Moby Dick, however. The company has created a magnificent fiction of words: where else is Small Tall, Medium Big, and Large something in Italian?
Tanniker Smith: I once made an insulting comment about Starbucks to a friend who looked back at me as if I'd slapped a nun. "Don't you ever -- ever say anything bad about Starbucks again," she admonished. (And this one knows how to admonish...). "Okay, okay," I replied, "I swear I'll never mention how much their coffee sucks ever again." "Don't--" she continued, and settled the discussion with, "I bought the stock early, and I bought hard. Don't you ever say anything bad about it again." I followed the advice, especially since I was staying at a palace in Aspen that her Starbucks stock helped pay for...