| Name Origin | Team |
| As the birthplace of the American Revolution, it sort of fit. | |
| In an attempt to modernize the team, Sonny Werblin chose this sleek name. Also, the stadium they would play in sat between two airports. | |
| Named for the subject of a famous jazzy marching song. | |
| Hoping to be 'the monarch of the league', this team was named for 'the monarch of the jungle.' | |
| Art Rooney Sr. allegedly named the team after its city's legendary industrial history. | |
| An advisory board chose this name from a pool of 400, probably from its city's history of piracy. | |
| Won a fan contest (like many teams) for its equine mixture of speed and might. | |
| Named for the largest cat in the Americas. Alliteration helped. | |
| Used the same name as an AAFC team from earlier years, which itself was playing off the nickname of frontiersman William Cody. | |
| Owner Homer Marshman loved the name of Fordham University's sheepish mascot. | |
| Named for Harold Bartle, a mayor who earned his nickname for working with Native Americans in Wyoming. | |
| Name was 'borrowed' from the town's baseball team, who have since moved to California. No, not the Dodgers. | |
| The Indian Packing Company gave this team $500 for uniforms and equipment. | |
| Named to honor Lone Star Dietz, who may or may not have been Sioux; somehow, many Native Americans don't feel too gracious. | |
| This name came in third in a fan contest after accusations that 'the SeƱors' was a fixed winner; perhaps 'brigand', 'bandit' and 'pirate' were too intense. | |
| Won a fan contest; presumably, alliteration was the reason the more common term 'osprey' wasn't chosen. | |
| | Name Origin | Team |
| Named for the spirit of adventure from pioneers brought west through a gold rush. | |
| A schoolteacher submitted this bird's name because it's 'proud and dignified with great courage and fight.' | |
| Named in honor of head coach Paul Brown. | |
| Named for the patriotic mascot of the National Recovery Administration of the New Deal. | |
| Named for its state. No, really. | |
| Joe Robbie picked it from a pool of fan suggestions for being 'one of the fastest and smartest creatures in the sea.' | |
| George Halas reasoned that football players were bigger than baseball players, and that these animals are bigger than cubs. | |
| Named for a traditional chant involving a bugle and a military command at Dodgers Stadium and USC games. | |
| Named 'The Rangers', but had to change its name thanks to an area baseball team already using the name. | |
| Bert Rose chose this name due to the vast Scandinavian heritage of the region. | |
| 'Strength, leadership and heroic qualities' spawned this name, because we all remember how Cronus heroically ate his kids to avoid being usurped. | |
| Named for a rare white tiger famously kept in the city zoo (well, actually, named after a team that was named after the tiger). | |
| Named to have synergy between the team colors (black, blue and silver) and the team name. | |
| Named for their maroon jerseys, actually, not the animal. | |
| Named for the proud tradition of horse racing in the Baltimore area. Yeah, about that... | |
| Named for the eponymous antagonist of Edgar Allan Poe's most famous poem. | |
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