Picture the scene: after a heavy night out, you wake up the following morning with a banging headache. You trudge over to CVS/Walgreens/Duane Reade/your pharmacy of choice to seek respite. You’re confronted with brand names you’ve never heard of. It makes your headache even worse.

If you’re visiting or living in the U.S., especially for the first time, it can be a little confusing to navigate this strange new world. We hope this quick primer will help.

British and American Brand Names

Here are some common painkillers and a side-by-side comparison of British and American names for them:

US Brand Name	UK Brand Name	Common Ingredient
Tylenol	Panadol (Paracetamol)	Acetaminophen
Advil	Nurofen	Ibuprofen
Aleve	Naprosyn	Naproxen
Aspirin	Aspirin	Aspirin

Here’s a full database of international names of pharmaceutical drugs (Drugs.com)

Why do medicines have different names in the U.S. than in the UK? 

Because the names you’re thinking of (Nurofen/Naprosyn/Panadol, etc.) are brand names, not the name of the ingredient in the medicine.

Many over-the-counter medicines are generic drugs where the patent to produce and sell the drug is not owned by any one pharmaceutical company.

Because of that, pharma companies will produce their own version of the drug and brand it with their own name. (Think of Nurofen vs. store brand Ibuprofen tablets. They’re the same drug. The only difference is that one is branded and one isn’t.) 

Sometimes the brand becomes so famous that it enters casual usage. A classic example of this is Hoover, which is a brand and has become colloquially used for any vacuum cleaner. However, pharmacists in the U.S. likely won’t be familiar with British brand names, even if they are used colloquially in the UK.

The U.S. has its own patents and its own brands. Therefore, in some cases, generic drugs have different names than in the UK. 

Different Nations, Different Regulators

Another reason for the differences in drug names is that different nations have different regulators. They might have the same broad rules, but they will apply them differently. 

For example, most places won’t let a brand name mislead customers about what the drug does. You can’t name your drug “COVIDCUREILIN” if it doesn’t actually cure COVID. And when it comes to brand names, these regulations will apply differently in different places.

Our tip is to check the ingredients of medicines to find what you need. Look for the “active ingredient”. It might take a bit of time, but you’ll get used to it in the end! 

Final Thoughts

If you get stuck, you can have a look at this handy database of drugs which will be able to show you how they are marketed almost anywhere in the world.

We appreciate that American drug nomenclature can be confusing, but hopefully this helps clarify a few things—and helps you feel a little less bewildered next time you enter a CVS or a Walgreens.