The origin of the Nano Banana name

The popular Nano Banana AI image generation model has a curious origin story regarding its uncommon name.

Google DeepMind has explained the unexpected origin of one of its most viral AI names: Nano Banana. Officially known as Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, the model quickly became famous not just for its image-editing abilities, but also for a codename that stood out in a world usually dominated by dry, technical labels.

The name wasn’t planned by marketing. It was created at 2:30 a.m. as a last-minute placeholder for LMArena, a platform where AI models are tested anonymously. Product manager Naina Raisinghani combined two personal nicknames - “Naina Banana” and “Nano” - to create something memorable. The team knew the name was silly, but kept it because the model was a fast, lightweight “Flash” variant, making “Nano” oddly fitting.

Once Nano Banana appeared publicly, the AI community took notice. Alongside the unusual name, users were impressed by the model’s ability to maintain character consistency, restore old photos, and handle culturally specific image prompts. As interest spread on social media, the codename became inseparable from the model’s identity.

Instead of reverting to a formal name at launch, Google embraced the joke. Banana-themed UI tweaks, emojis, and even branded swag followed. With the release of Gemini 3 Pro Image, the branding has now gone official with Nano Banana Pro, proving that a spontaneous late-night decision can turn into a lasting and surprisingly effective AI brand.