Origins of team names

[JamesCraven]

Philadelphia Eagles - from the symbol for the National Recovery Act of FDR in 1933

[FUNKAFIED]

and how many indians have you seen in Cleveland?

Here is a story about how the Indians were named. A lot of people, including me, thought they were named after Louis Sockalexis, a native american ballplayer of the time. Apparently that link has some other theories as well. The Indians were known as the Spiders and Naps prior to becoming the Indians.

[Krona]

clippers= i imagine something to do with san diego's history as a port city

titans=nashville known as the "athens of the south"

[Krona]

i think the indian logo is based on a caricature of said ballplayer

[Pharos04]

guess i'll take care of the Bostonian aspect of this thread:

Patriots: due to Boston being the starting point of the American Revolution

Red Sox: Although also known as the Pilgrims and the Americans...they wore red socks and like the Reds...the name stuck

Celtics: the Irish ties of the city of Boston

Bruins: wait we have a pro team named that? honestly for the B's i don't know

[Stampman]

CFL-

BC Lions-it's a mountain lion and named after mountains in the area referred to as the Lions.

Calgary Stampeders-in reference to the city's western/ranching/agricultural heritage and the annual Calgary Stampede.

Edmonton Eskimos-Apparently this was a Calgary sports writers idea since they were "Up north" it was originally Esquimeaux or something like that--and the name stuck

Saskatchewan Roughriders-I've heard it-I forget it--hey they use wheat! not roughriders in their logos!

Winnipeg Blue Bombers-Apparently named after Joe Louis-the Brown Bomber--forget how blue came into it--may have been the unis

Toronto Argonauts-The team was originally a a rowing team that decided to play rugby to keep in shape

Hamilton Tiger Cats-two Hamilton teams merged-the Tigers and the (Wild)Cats--I've heard different versions of the Cats part--to provide a redundant nickname

Montreal Alouettes-After a French kids' song about a bird--I learned this in school as a way to learn the parts of the body in French. Somebody posted the lyrics here before and revealed it was actually a bird pecking apart someone's body.

Ottawa Renegades--apparently they had a name the team contest

[Puckguy14]

Joining in on the fun Bay style...

Sharks - Named after the sea creature that calls the portion of the Pacific Ocean near the Golden Gate home. That area is known as the red triangle by marine biologist, since that area is home to seven different species of sharks. That triangle is represented in the Sharks logo.

49ers and Gold Miners (CFL, and my MLF team) - Named after the people who were a part of the 1849 California Gold Rush. Miners were nicknamed 49ers while they searched for gold, hence why California is also called the Golden State.

Earhquakes - Originally named after the MISL Quakes, which were named after the seismic activity of the San Jose area.

Clash - If I recall the name comes from the unique ethnic diversity of the Bay Area that "clashes" together to unite each other. (Something like that, it was in the inaugural MLS yearbook guide)

that's all i can remember

oops forgot one Southland one...

Mighty Ducks - named after those great Disney movies that actually got me to get into myself skating and into playing hockey as well.

[OMMF]

Sea-town representin! Ok enough of that. I am white after all.

SuperSonics - Already discussed. A few years ago they were going to drop the Super and they kind of have but it depends on what you are looking at. The logo just says Sonics but the website is SeattleSupersonics.com

Mariners - So much water around here. So many mariners.

Seahawks/Thunderbirds - Large Native American influence up here and mythological birds I guess represent that.

Sounders - Named after Puget Sound, the body of water that most of Seattle sits on.

Other area team names:

Everett Aquasox -

Everett Silvertips - A type of bear that lives in the Cascade Mountain range

Tacoma Rainiers - Tacoma is the nearest large town to Mt Rainier; Nod to Seattle Rainiers which were owned by the Rainier Brewing Co.

Portland Winter Hawks, Spokane Chiefs - See Seahawks/Thunderbirds

[Mingjai]

One that I didn't figure out until I started playing jazz trombone:

St. Louis Blues = named after the W.C. Handy song that is now a jazz standard

[IceCap]

ill do toronto:

maple leafs- were originally named the toronto areanas and then the st. pats. conn smyth renamed them the maple leafs because he wanted a patriotic name.

argos- covered in the cfl post.

blue jays- not sure, but i think they were going to be named the blues, after the beer. mlb wouldnt let them do that, so they became the blue jays

raptors- named durring the jurrassic park mania in the mid 90's.

[Mac6674]

I actually read that the Jets were intentionally rhymed with "Mets" when they re-named the team.

The New Jersey Devils are named after a mythical beast that supposedly roamed southern New Jersey and left its hoof prints behind.

I like when teams move, but keep a geographically themed name; the Lakers, the Jazz for example.

Penn State - Nittany Lions because the campus is next to Mt. Nittany.

[BBTV]

Found this after a quick Google search. I'm sure it is just a high level overview, and that the members here could probably provide a lot more detail on their team's nickname origins.

Origin of nicknames

Johnny Canuck? Are you kidding me?

[Newmaniac]

How about the Utah Jazz and LA Lakers? Nicknames that no longer apply since they moved cities.

[antnee1515]

Here's my 2¢...

Los Angeles Dodgers - Originally Brooklyn, where the outfielders were known for "dodging" trolley cars. They we're locally called the Trolley Dodgers and then shortened to just Dodgers.

San Francisco Giants - Legend has it that The New York national league club then known as the Gothams were playing when manager John McGraw said, "These men, my Giants" and the name stuck. It would later influence the football club.

Pittsburgh Pirates - They had stolen a player from the Philadelphia Athletics and were called "Pirates" for raiding that team.

Detroit Tigers - a local reporter noted that the socks worn by the Tigers looked similar to the socks worn by the Princeton Tigers football club - yellow and black - and hence the Tiger name was born.

Detroit is one of a handful of cities (circa. 1920's-1930's) to name their sports franchises with a sort of "theme" or matching names

Detroit - Lions, Tigers

Chicago - Cubs, Bears

New York - Giants, Giants

St. Louis - Cardinals, Cardinals

San Diego Padres - in honor of the monks who founded the city

Texas Rangers - duh...

New York Yankees - being a native "nu yawkuh" myself and a lifelong Yankees fan, there is not much known about when or why the Yankees became the Yankees. Yes, they were the Highlanders and Yes, the reason for that was that they played on a hill. But written reports of the day had them called the "yankees as far back as 1905.

Cool note: Only one city has a "color-code" for three of the four major sports leagues. Pittsburgh's three teams each wear black and gold - Pirates, Steelers, and the Penguins

[sacker12]

I think the Bulls got their name because of Chicago having such a major role in the cattle industry in the early during the late 19th - early 20th centuries.

[Gary]

Detroit Tigers - a local reporter noted that the socks worn by the Tigers looked similar to the socks worn by the Princeton Tigers football club - yellow and black - and hence the Tiger name was born.

Story is true but the sock color is black and orange

[sacker12]

Added local team: Montgomery Biscuits (AA Tampa Bay)- was winning entry in the "Name the Team" contest by a lawyer whose intramural softball team in college was named the "Biscuit Eaters". Owners thought name was unique and was easily linked to the South.

[BBTV]

Cool note: Only one city has a "color-code" for three of the four major sports leagues. Pittsburgh's three teams each wear black and gold - Pirates, Steelers, and the Penguins

Although the Pens were once two-toned baby blue / navy blue.

[pcgd]

Most of the Old MLB teams were orginally just had city names. The newspaper reporters usually were responsible for the team nicknames and they just stuck.

The St. Louis Cardinals were orginally known as the BrownStockings, then Browns. After new ownership came in, the Cardinals started wearing red socks, and were known as the Perfectos. A newsreporter overheard someone say "What a lovely shade of Cardinal" and the name stuck. The later St. Louis Browns I'd imagine were named for the orginal St. Louis ballclub.

The Cubs had many names early on including White Stockings, Orphans (perhaps because they played in up to 5 different ballparks early on), and Colts. In 1902 a newspaper writer noted the teams youth movement and called the team the Cubs. The name stuck.

The Bears orgininated in Decatur Illinois as the Staleys. That name didn't last long as they moved to chicago after being bought by George Halas. The team adapted the Colors from the University of Illinois and the team nickname was indeed a result of their fellow tennets in wrigley field, the Cubs.

The Blues were not only named for that one song, but the huge Jazz scene that exsisted, and still does to an extent, in St. Louis.

Almost everyteam has a history section on their website that further details their nickname. I'd say any team that's come about in the 80's on is a result of market research and doesn't have some cool story attached to it.

Edit: I believe the Bulls had a variety of reasons for the nickname they carry. Both so far make sense, the Cattleyards that existed in Chicago as well as Mrs. O'Leary's Cow. But, Chicago also has a large Stock Exchange, and the name could stand for a "Bull Market"

[WSU151]

Detroit is one of a handful of cities (circa. 1920's-1930's) to name their sports franchises with a sort of "theme" or matching names

Detroit - Lions, Tigers

Chicago - Cubs, Bears

New York - Giants, Giants

St. Louis - Cardinals, Cardinals

That would be a great story if the Cardinals actually started playing football in St. Louis. <cough> Chicago Cardinals <cough>

And I'm sure 99.9999999999% of the members of this board know that Pittsburgh teams use gold and black as main colors.