The company says it expects the split to be completed by the end of the year.
Kraft said it considered more than 1,700 suggestions from employees, and Mondelez was inspired by separate suggestions from two Kraft employees, one in Europe and another in North America.
It says “monde", is derived from the Latin word for "world", while "delez" is a shortened expression for "delicious".
"Mondelez has an appealing international sound that perfectly evokes the idea of a 'delicious world.' That's the essence of our global snacks company," said chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld.
The name has come under some criticism, including concerns that it may be difficult to pronounce for some North Americans, and that in Russian, it sounds similar to a word for an explicit sex act.
Mondelez International (pronounced mohn-dah-LEEZ') will trade under the stock symbol MDLZ following the separation, and the North American grocery business will retain the Kraft Foods name and trade under the symbol KRFT.
