City Nicknames List: U.S. and World Cities With Sourced Origins

This city nicknames list covers over 75 U.S. cities and about 35 cities worldwide. For every nickname, I searched the internet for a source that documents its origins. In the process, I could not find reliable sources for quite a few cities. I say so plainly instead of assuming that a popular nickname has a proven origin. I came across many interesting stories behind some of these nicknames as well. I take a closer look at eight of the well-known city nicknames in the later sections of this article.

I intend to continue to research and publish new nicknames or update the existing list with revised status or sources. So bookmark this page if you like and keep checking if there are updates. And if you come across something that needs correction in this article, or if you want me to cover any other city or if you have other suggestions, please use the Contact page to reach out.

How city nicknames form

Most nicknames can be categorized into a few buckets, making it easier to judge a claimed origin.

• Translation or founding name: These names were coined when the city was first established or have been translated to English from other languages. For example, Los Angeles’s City of Angels is a short English form of its Spanish name, and Philadelphia’s City of Brotherly Love follows from the Greek roots of the name William Penn chose.
• Geography or climate: These names describe the unique geographical characteristics of the city. Denver’s Mile High City, El Paso’s Sun City and Houston’s Bayou City describe the place itself.
• Industry: The name is derived from the city’s industrial might. Detroit’s Motor City, Pittsburgh’s Steel City, Wichita’s Air Capital and Tulsa’s Oil Capital name what the economy made.
• Promotion: These names were coined to promote tourism or to attract investors or settlers. Seattle’s Emerald City came from a 1981 contest, Baltimore’s Charm City from a 1970s campaign, and San Jose’s Capital of Silicon Valley from a 1988 publicity push.
• Culture and slang: These names stem from popular cultural practices or informal words that locals use to describe the city. Nashville’s Music City, Chicago’s Second City and Madison’s Mad City come from people, songs and T-shirts.

How to read this city nicknames list

Each row in this list has a Status and a Source link. The status is about the origin of the nickname, not the nickname itself. So a nickname can be famous but still have an undocumented origin. Here is what the different statuses mean:

• Documented: a source gives a dated early use or a named person who coined the nickname.
• Disputed: sources disagree with each other, or the popular story is not backed by what I could find.
• Undocumented: the nickname is real and widely used and there is evidence of it, but I could not find a source that says who coined it or when. This includes nicknames with an obvious reason, such as a city of lakes, because a clear reason is not a dated first use.
• Promotional: a slogan with a known launch, usually from a chamber of commerce or tourism bureau.

Clicking on the source links in the table takes you to the page I used for that row. I tried to list the most authoritative source only, though there may be multiple sources that support the same claim. Some rows rely on a single tourism or reference page, and the “What is documented” column provides the relevant information. For easier navigation, you can use the search and filter controls at the top of the table or your browser’s find function (Ctrl+F or Cmd+F) to jump to a city.

The U.S. city nicknames list

The table lists the cities with their states in alphabetical order. Cities with several nicknames have several rows.

Note: Dover’s nickname, “Capital of the First State”, is on the city seal (adopted in 1959) but borrows Delaware’s state title, so it is not listed as the city’s nickname. Trenton’s “Trenton Makes, The World Takes” and Washington’s “The District” are a slogan and a short-form name, so they are left out too.

The stories behind some famous nicknames

These eight nicknames have the most repeated origin stories, so I checked each one.

The Big Apple. John J. FitzGerald of the New York Morning Telegraph first used “the big apple” in a racing item on 3 May 1921 and defined it in a column headed “Around the Big Apple” on 18 February 1924: “There’s only one Big Apple. That’s New York.” He said he heard it from stable hands at the New Orleans Fair Grounds. The research is by Barry Popik and Gerald Cohen, whose 1991 monograph is titled Origin of New York City’s Nickname “The Big Apple.” The tourism bureau revived it in the 1970s.

The Windy City. The popular story says New York Sun editor Charles Dana mocked Chicago as windy during the rivalry over the 1893 World’s Fair. Nobody has located his editorial. In January 2004, Barry Popik found “That Windy City” in the Cincinnati Enquirer on 9 May 1876, more than a decade and a half earlier, with a joke about windy speakers as well as a windstorm. The Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Public Library still credit Dana with popularizing it, which may be the fair way to put it.

Sin City. Nevada legalized casino gambling in 1931, but that is not the same as a documented origin for the nickname. Popik’s earliest Las Vegas citations are from 1960, and other cities were called “Sin City” in the 1950s. A 1963-64 book, Las Vegas: City of Sin?, is often cited as an early appearance, though sources differ on its year and authors. Who first applied the label to Las Vegas is undocumented.

The Big Easy. Popik’s research shows “Big Easy” was first a dance hall in Gretna, Louisiana, reported by the Times-Democrat on 14 August 1911. The earliest use for New Orleans he found is by Bob Lefkowitz in the Franklin (LA) Banner-Tribune on 26 June 1952. James Conaway’s 1970 novel was long assumed to be the source, but Conaway said he heard the phrase in the mid-1960s. Columnist Betty Guillaud helped popularize it as a counterpart to the Big Apple, though Popik’s earliest citation for her is 1980. The origin remains unknown.

Motor City. Popik’s dated citations show “motor city” in the Washington Post on 6 November 1910 (used descriptively), the Los Angeles Times on 31 August 1913, and a 1919 Detroit city directory advertisement that is the Oxford English Dictionary’s earliest citation. It is an unofficial nickname. Motown is a separate name: it comes from the record label’s trademark (1960), and the sense of “Detroit” dates to 1971.

Music City. WSM radio announcer David Cobb is usually credited with popularizing “Music City, U.S.A.” on the air, but sources give different years, from the 1950s to 1960. The story that Queen Victoria coined it while hearing the Fisk Jubilee Singers is not supported. The group’s long-time director and Ken Burns’s research both reject it.

City of Angels. It is an abbreviated English translation of the city’s Spanish name, El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles. The earliest reference the Los Angeles Almanac found is a letter in the Los Angeles Star on 22 February 1855.

Mile High City. Denver sits at 5,280 feet. The Colorado General Assembly’s Capitol visitor brochure says Denver is “exactly one mile high,” a fact commemorated on the West Steps of the Capitol. Denver is not the highest U.S. capital: Cheyenne sits at 6,097 feet and Santa Fe at 7,199.

Cities that share a nickname

Some labels belong to several cities, almost always for unrelated reasons.

City nicknames by theme

Abbreviations people use for cities

Several cities are as often called by a short form as by a nickname.

World city nicknames by region

The origins of the nicknames of cities in the rest of the world are often older and harder to source. The same status labels as the U.S. cities list apply here as well. For example, Frankfurt’s “Mainhattan” is a nickname skyline spotters use, as covered in the guide to identifying European cities from a skyline photo. The lists are arranged by region.

Europe

Asia

Americas

Africa

Oceania

How to verify a nickname’s origin

While researching the sources of “The Windy City”, I found that following the primary lead undercut a story that most compilation pages repeat. These are the checks I generally rely on:

• Search the exact nickname in quotes with the city name and “origin.”
• Scan through the search results and look for authoritative sources like a newspaper or book.
• Look for the earliest dated use, not the most repeated claim. Barry Popik’s blog is a treasure trove with dated citations for many American nicknames.
• Check whether the city’s own site uses the nickname, and whether it names a coiner or only repeats a tourism line.
• Treat tourism pages and Wikipedia as leads. Tourism pages often copy each other. Wikipedia can be a good place to find other sources, but not the source itself.
• Local library and historical society archives often have free digitized newspapers.

Test yourself

Knowing that Music City is Nashville is one thing. Knowing it sits roughly 175 miles by road to the south-southwest of Louisville is another. While putting this list together I noticed how many of these cities I could name but not place. WorldleCity’s daily city guessing game lets you practice that second skill with a different city each day: it shows a photo of a city skyline or a landmark, you get six guesses, and each guess returns the distance, the direction and a color clue.

Sources

• Why is Chicago called the Windy City? (Mental Floss)
• Big Easy (New Orleans nickname), Barry Popik
• Motor City or Motown (Detroit nicknames), Barry Popik
• Sin City (Las Vegas, Nevada), Barry Popik
• Why were we Music City, according to Ken Burns? (WPLN)
• How St. Louis became known as Mound City (STLPR)
• Los Angeles Almanac, city names
• Colorado State Capitol visitor brochure (Colorado General Assembly)
• City of Brotherly Love (Philadelphia Encyclopedia)
• The Hawaiian Islands and their nicknames, explained (Hawaii Magazine)

FAQ

Who came up with the nickname The Big Apple?

Sportswriter John J. FitzGerald of the New York Morning Telegraph used it for New York’s racetracks on 3 May 1921 and defined it in an 18 February 1924 column. He said he heard it from stable hands at the New Orleans Fair Grounds. The city’s tourism bureau revived it in a 1970s campaign.

Is Chicago called the Windy City because of the weather?

Probably not only that. The popular story credits New York editor Charles Dana, but nobody has found his editorial. Researcher Barry Popik found ‘That Windy City’ in the Cincinnati Enquirer on 9 May 1876, a play on windy speakers as well as a windstorm.

Are city nicknames official?

Mostly no. Detroit’s Motor City is unofficial, for example. A few are formal: Austin’s City Council made Live Music Capital of the World official in August 1991, and Little Rock formally announced The Rock on 2 October 2006 after a public contest.

Why do some cities share a nickname?

Nicknames often reflect a common idea. Charlotte, Cincinnati and Buffalo are each called the Queen City, and Venice of the North is used for Amsterdam and St. Petersburg. Shared nicknames usually have separate origins, so check each city on its own.

Which city is called the City of Churches?

Adelaide, Australia is called the City of Churches. It is a long-standing nickname, but its exact origin is not established in the sources I found, and it is often linked to religious diversity as well as the number of churches.

How can I check where a city nickname came from?

Search the exact phrase with the city name and the word origin, then look for the earliest dated newspaper or book use. Barry Popik’s blog collects dated citations for many American nicknames. Treat tourism pages and Wikipedia as leads, not proof.

Recommended

• Famous Buildings and Landmarks of US Cities: A Guide
• How to Identify European Cities from a Skyline Photo
• How to Identify Cities from Photos: A Practical Guide