Nano Banana가 이름을 얻게 된 이유

Source: Google AI Blog

You already know it for its viral editing power. But how did one of Google DeepMind’s most popular models end up with the name Nano Banana?

Background and technical name

Back in late July, the team was hard at work preparing the first version of the model for launch, squashing bugs and running evaluations. They’d already locked in the technical name — Gemini 2.5 Flash Image — but one critical detail was still missing: a public codename for LMArena.

LMArena is a public platform designed to evaluate AI models through anonymous, crowd‑sourced pairwise comparisons. Users submit a prompt and get responses from two unidentified models, vote for the better response, and then the platform reveals which models were used. Because many models are still in development, a codename is crucial for testing and gathering early performance signals.

The naming story

“We pushed the codename conversation until the last minute,” Product Manager Naina Raisinghani says. “At 2:30 a.m. one of the PMs messaged me saying we needed to submit it, and I said, ‘OK, how about something funny like “Nano Banana”?’”

The idea came from Naina’s own nicknames. “Some of my friends call me Naina Banana, and others call me Nano because I’m short and I like computers. So I just smushed my two nicknames together,” she explains. “And it fit because it was a Flash model.”

The team introduced Nano Banana on LMArena in early August, and the model quickly went viral. Users were stunned by its powerful editing capabilities—maintaining a person’s likeness, expertly merging multiple images, and more. When they saw the whimsical name, social media “went bananas.”

Launch and virality

After a few weeks of speculation, the team teased that Google was behind the Nano Banana model with posts on X:

When the model officially launched (announcement), it didn’t slip—Nano Banana became the top‑rated image‑editing model worldwide. People used it to try on different looks, remix and restore photos, make precise edits, create custom apps, and countless other use cases.

“One reason we were successful is the model was available everywhere from day one—it didn’t matter what country you were in, or whether you were a developer or a consumer, you had it on the same day,” Naina says. “Culturally relevant prompts went viral everywhere, like the popular figurine trend from Thailand or the saree trend in India.”

Ongoing branding

While the technical name remained Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, the Nano Banana brand stuck. The team embraced it:

• Turned the run button for Nano Banana in AI Studio yellow.
• Added a banana emoji to the “Create image” chip in the Gemini app.
• Produced limited‑edition banana‑themed swag.

Now that Gemini 3 Pro Image is available, its brand name has been upgraded to Nano Banana Pro.

“We leaned into the silliness of it all. We’ve embraced the banana emoji as one of us. The team is split on the banana puns, but we’re glad people find the model appealing,” Naina adds.