Anyone who's ever had a kid or tried to write a terrible novel knows that names are hard to come up with. Sometimes they even cause conflict. Sports teams are no exception, apparently.

Pittsburgh Penguins

We can all agree that a penguin is not the most menacing of animals, and Pittsburgh isn’t really known for Its Eskimo population. so how did the Pittsburgh Penguins get their name? Turns out it was decided because their arena looked like an igloo. But if there’s any sport where a penguin is a fitting mascot, it’s one where people skate around on ice.

Photography: Wikimedia Commons/Dan4th Nicholas

Syracuse Orange

Otto the Orange was not the original mascot of the team. Originally they cycled through a number of Native American-related mascots until a protest in 1978. That’s when they decided to use the last name of their Native American mascot, “Big Chief Bill Orange.” Turns out that using citrus as a mascot is a much less offensive move than appropriating the culture of the marginalized community. Who knew?

Chicago Cubs

Syracuse wasn’t the only team that couldn’t settle on a mascot. The Chicago Cubs cycled through several names before they settled on ferocious baby animals, my favorite of which was The Orphans. Maybe Cubs was just a slightly less depressing innuendo for orphans at the time.

Chicago White Sox

Even though the Cubs struggled to settle on a name, at least they were creative. The Chicago White Sox, however, just stole one of the previous names of the Cubs. Originally Stockings, it was shortened to Sox in 1902. If they were going to steal a name, they should have stolen something noteworthy like The Orphans.

Photography: Wikimedia Commons/Jauerback

Pittsburgh Pirates

Speaking of stealing, that's actually how the Pittsburgh Pirates got their name. After a terrible season, they started poaching players, and other teams accused them of being pirates. Instead of denying it, they leaned into the name. Talk about adding insult to injury.

Photography: Wikimedia Commons/Blackngold29

New York Knicks

The White Sox aren't the only team named after articles of clothing. The New York Knicks basketball team is named after a type of pant called the knickerbocker, though no one really knows why.

Photography: Wikimedia Commons/Bryan Horowitz

Chicago Bulls

Normally you want to name your team after something menacing, and the Bull is a good choice. However, Chicago chose Bulls to highlight their meat packing industry at the time. Given that bulls are the big loser in that industry, it seems like an odd choice for a mascot.

Photography: Wikimedia Commons/Mack Male

Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers chose their mascot to highlight the meat packing industry as well. But at least they chose the winning side of the matchup.

Photography Wikimedia Commons/Mike Morbeck

Calgary Flames

There are a lot of good reasons to choose flames as a mascot. Fire is cool and menacing, but it's also connected to a lot of tragedies. You might be surprised to know that the name is connected very directly to a specific tragedy. The Flames were originally located in Atlanta, which was burned to the ground during "Sherman's March to the Sea” in 1864. The choice to name a team after a time when your city was decimated is questionable, but at least Flames sounds cool.

Photography: Wikimedia Commons/Jenn G

Los Angeles Dodgers

Many mascots are city-inspired but few are named after failures of public infrastructure. That's exactly how the Dodgers got their name, though. The team was originally from Brooklyn, where trolleys were a common form of public transportation. They were also known for running people over and killing them. Maybe Los Angeles will change the name again to the Waymo Dodgers, since self-driving cars are more common now.

Photography: Wikimedia Commons/Ian D'Andrea