When creating a team, there are few things more important to consider than the nickname. These names are what the organization will be known as to the general public, and it leaves a lasting legacy for years to come. This article will focus on teams in the “Big 4” sports league. These include the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL. In the world of sports, there are a few common tropes of team names. We’ll start with those, and then get into some of the more interesting individual team stories.
Traditional Names:
Many, if not most pro sports teams name themselves after an intimidating animal or force. Some simple examples are the Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Memphis Grizzlies, Detroit Tigers, and Florida Panthers. Another large, albeit smaller section revolves around birds. The Baltimore Ravens, Atlanta Hawks, St. Louis Cardinals, and Seattle Seahawks are all good examples. These are incredibly common and somewhat boring, but they get the job done.
Patriotic Names:
Some teams design their names around the country they are from. Many of these are around the east coast, in cities that were important in the country’s early history. Some obvious examples include the New England Patriots, Philadelphia 76ers, (after the year 1776) and the Washington Capitals and Commanders. This extends north as well, as the Ottawa hockey team calls themselves the Senators, referring to the city’s capital status.
Location-Based Names:
A small group of sports teams go the extremely unoriginal route and make their team nickname based around the location the team is from. Not that the name is relevant to the place, but it’s just the place. Some examples include the Philadelphia Phillies, Montreal Canadiens, and Houston Texans.
Location Changes:
Team names change for many reasons. One obvious one is that the team changes location and the name is no longer relevant. Such as when the Montreal Expos moved to Washington and became the Nationals, because the Expos wouldn’t have made sense in the new city. The Arizona Coyotes moved recently and are in the process of switching. Currently, they are the Utah Hockey Club, but hopefully that will change soon.
Other Changes:
Then of course, there are names that have changed for obvious reasons, such as the newly named Washington Commanders and Cleveland Guardians. Some expect the Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Blackhawks to follow soon after due to their similar issues.
Name Contests:
Many teams leave it up to their fans to decide a name. Over the years, this has happened over multiple sports. The Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Las Vegas Raiders are all examples from the NFL, The NBA has teams from contests as well. These include the Miami Heat, Charlotte Hornets, and Portland Trail Blazers.
Uniform Names
Some baseball teams named their team after the original uniforms that team wore. Examples include the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, and Cincinnati Reds. These teams somewhat fall into the trap of being overly unoriginal, and it may not be coincidence that all of these teams were named many years ago. So it’s up for debate whether these teams are due for a change, or if they have too much history to let go of.
Now, we’ll go into some more specific details about individual teams going league by league.
The NFL:
- Cleveland Browns – The Browns are named after the founder and original coach, Paul Brown.
- Green Bay Packers – Curly Lambeau (as in Lambeau field) worked for a company packing meat, hence the Packers.
- Los Angeles Chargers – A Chargers owner liked when the fans in the stadium yelled “Charge!” towards the field, so he decided to name the team the Chargers.
- Minnesota Vikings – Minnesota has a large Nordic population. That paired well with the aggression seen in Vikings, so the team was named.
- New York Jets – The Mets (of baseball) were a pre-existing team, so the Jets rhymed with that. They also play somewhat near LaGuardia airport in New York City.
- Pittsburgh Steelers – The city of Pittsburgh is known for the steel industry, so they decided to name their team after that.
- San Francisco 49ers – They were named after the people who came to the San Francisco region for the gold rush. The gold rush occurred in 1849.
The NBA:
- Brooklyn Nets – The Nets came to New York after the pre-existing New York Jets and Mets.
- Detroit Pistons – The team’s owner made pistons. This goes along with the city’s connection to the automobile industry.
- New York Knicks – The Knicks are named after a shortened version of a New York City icon known as Father Knickerbocker.
- Indiana Pacers – The Pacers are a reference to the “pace car” of auto racing. This connects to the Indy 500, a famous auto race from Indiana.
- Denver Nuggets – Once, there was a mining boom in Denver. The Nuggets are a reference to gold nuggets.
- Oklahoma City Thunder – This name references two things: The team’s location being in Tornado alley, and the Thunderbirds of the U.S. army.
- Utah Jazz – The team was moved from New Orleans, where jazz is a large part of the culture. In Utah, it doesn’t make much sense, but they never switched it.
- San Antonio Spurs – Spurs are referring to the spurs on cowboy boots which connects to the team being based in Texas.
- Los Angeles Clippers – The Clippers are named after an old type of sailboat from the 1800s.
- Los Angeles Lakers – Much like the Jazz, the Lakers relocated, and never changed their name. In this case, they came from Minnesota, also known as the “Land of 1000 lakes”.
The MLB:
- Chicago Cubs – Many years ago, instead of varsity and JV teams, schools would have varsity and “cub” teams. The Cubs were named this way to match their energy and youthfulness.
- Cleveland Guardians – The Guardians recently went through a name change. Their new name is based on the art deco style statues outside the stadium in which they play.
- Colorado Rockies – The Rockies are named because of their home stadium’s close proximity to the Rocky Mountains.
- Houston Astros – The Astros are named for the various astronauts born around the Houston area.
- Los Angeles Angels – The Angels are named because of the city they play in. Los Angeles is a Spanish translation of “The Angels”.
- Los Angeles Dodgers – The Dodgers franchise was originally located in Brooklyn. There, players had to “dodge” trolleys on their way to the stadium.
- Minnesota Twins – The Twins are named after the “twin cities” of Minnesota in which the team plays. Those cities being Minneapolis and St. Paul.
- New York Mets – The Mets (which preceded the Jets and Nets) are named for a shortened version of “metropolitan”.
- Seattle Mariners – The city of Seattle has always had a strong connection to the sea. So, they named their team accordingly.
- Tampa Bay Rays – The team was originally the “Devil Rays”. This was changed to sun rays in 2007.
The NHL:
- Columbus Blue Jackets – During the Civil many soldiers from Ohio wore blue jackets. The name was chosen to honor them.
- Edmonton Oilers – Much like many other names, this was chosen to represent an industry of that city, in this case oil.
- St. Louis Blues – The Blues were named after a song by W.C. Handy called “St. Louis Blues”.
- Winnipeg Jets – The city of Winnipeg has a strong connection to the aviation industry. The name was chosen to represent that.
So, it’s clear that a franchise uses many different factors to choose a name. Few sports teams manage to create a successful name, making it intimidating, creative, unique, and connected to the city it comes from. However, when they do, it becomes an icon of the home city, and the entire world of sports.
