Top 10 Professional Sports Team Names that Have a Meaningful Origin

Owner Walter Brown named the Boston NBA team because he said that the city was full of Irishman.

Named the 49ers after the 1849 Gold Rush in San Francisco and various areas in California.

Yes folks, it is not a grammatical mistake. Conn Smythe, who formed the Leafs, named them after the regiment. The colours are from his alma mater, the University of Toronto, where he coached and played hockey.

The Maple Leafs say that the name was chosen in honour of the Maple Leaf Regiment from World War I.

Owner Art Rooney Sr. changed the team name to Steelers in 1940 to more properly represent the city's dominant steel industry.

Before coming to LA the Lakers came from Minneapolis which was a city in MN and is known for having over 10,000 lakes.

The team was actually named after a packaging company known as the Indian Packing Compant in Wisconsin.

The team moved from Brooklyn, and in the 1910s, the team was named after the borough’s pedestrians who dodged the streetcars in the city. Also were known as the Trolley Dodgers for a short while.

Owner George Halas named the team the Bears because Chicago's baseball team was the Cubs. Implying that football players are bigger and stronger than baseball players.

Rockets was picked because it reflected the outstanding growth of space-age industries in San Diego. The team relocated to Houston in 1971, the nickname still fits because of the NASA space program’s operation center there.

Owner Bert Bell liked the Recovery Act, which had an eagle as its symbol, and hoped it would help his team have a new deal.

There's some debate about whether Cleveland's professional football franchise was named after its first coach and general manager, Paul Brown, or after boxer Joe Louis, who was nicknamed the "Brown Bomber."

Owner Lamar Hunt said the name was locally important because Native Americans had once lived in the area. Hunt may have also been swayed by Kansas City mayor H. Roe Bartle, whose nickname was The Chief.

The nickname, chosen by team owner John Mecom, was a nod to the city's jazz heritage and taken from the popular song, "When the Saints Go Marching In."

The nickname, which was a popular choice among fans in a name-the-team contest, was a nod to the pirates who raided Florida's coasts during the 17th century.

Owner Shinn noted that the nickname had some historical significance; during the Revolutionary War, a British commander reportedly referred to the area around Charlotte as a "hornet’s nest of rebellion.

Nuggets, an allusion to the city's mining tradition and the Colorado Gold Rush during the late 1850s and early 1860s

The nickname is a reference to Indiana's rich harness and auto racing history.

Clippers, a popular type of ship during the 19th century. San Diego had been home to the Conquistadors/Sails of the ABA during the 1970s

The term "Knickerbockers" referred specifically to pants rolled up just below the knee by Dutch settlers in the New World during the 1600s. Many of these settlers found homes in and around New York City

The name is an obvious nod to the tourism-rich city's main attraction, Disney World

Originating as the Houston Colt 45's in 1962, the team changed their name to Astros in honor of the men taking part of the NASA space program during the 1960's in the space race.