Ranking Delaware high school nicknames: Cleverness, originality (and cats) rule in top 30

There are just 61 Delaware high schools with athletic teams and they go about their sporting business with determination and diligence while enjoying the fun and camaraderie.

Often, no matter what game they’re playing, athletes and the family, friends and alumni who follow them will refer to their teams not only by the school’s name but its nickname.

Whether they be Ravens or Raiders, Bulldogs or Buccaneers, Jaguars or Blue Jays, such monikers provide extra inspiration and motivation, instill pride, create character and become familiar reference points.

They also provide recognizable media-related identification and headline-writing verbage, whether it’s the Jaguars pouncing on the Cavaliers or the Hillers swatting the Hornets.

When a school has a costumed mascot, it adds to the sideline spirit that students and rooters enjoy.

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For a state as small as it is, Delaware does, however, suffer from a dearth of originality. Those 61 schools possess just 45 nicknames. Three nicknames are employed by three high schools each and 10 more by two apiece.

With all that in mind, Delaware Online/The News Journal has ranked those school nicknames from best to worst. This story focuses on the top 30. Earlier we published the bottom 31 nicknames.

We’ll also reveal a bonus list of the many high schools that no longer exist due to court-ordered busing, desegregation, consolidation, district downsizing, population shifts or financial trouble but might still may stir fervor among alums.

What rates highest? Rarity and originality help, with alliteration and a connection with a school’s name also being beneficial. You may also notice a preference for one particular species when it comes to animal nicknames, though that may make a few readers snarl and hiss in return.

Here are the top 30:

30. Sussex Academy Seahawks

Sussex Academy is close enough to the ocean in Georgetown that this works.

29. Delaware Military Academy Seahawks

DMA students are part of the Navy Junior ROTC making this an ideal school moniker.

28 . Smyrna Eagles

National symbol always has nickname status.

27. Hodgson Vo-Tech Silver Eagles

A common but very proud and imposing nickname that benefits here from the school color adjective.

26. Delmar Wildcats

Like Howard, these ferocious felines date back almost 100 years.

25. Howard Wildcats

Though rather generic compared to more specific cat-family names, the cantankerous Wildcats have been making sports headlines in the Wilmington papers since the 1930s, giving what is a very common nickname additional appeal.

24. Glasgow Dragons

A great nickname to enflame the passions of school teams and rooters and scorch the opposition.

23. Conrad Red Wolves

Among the state’s many shared nicknames, this one is among the best, especially because Conrad erased its long-standing Redskins nickname, against the wishes of many long-ago grads, to adopt it while retaining the colorful adjective.

22. Odessa Ducks

Same nickname and green and gold school colors as the University of Oregon, but Ducks are a common site in nearby wetlands so that works.

21. Odyssey Charter Owls

Those who give a hoot about Odyssey Charter teams should relish this handle.

20. Dover Senators

Definitely sounds better than other long-time state capital residents such as Governors, Representatives, Lobbyists or Attorneys.

19. Caesar Rodney Riders

Considering Rodney’s historic 1776 ride to Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of Independence, there is no more perfect epithet than this.

18. William Penn Colonials

This very fitting nickname has lost some luster in recent years but for a school in the Three Lower Counties of Pennsylvania bearing Penn’s name it’s perfect.

17. Dickinson Rams

Another headline-writer winner and smashing choice for a school mascot.

16. Wilmington Friends Quakers

There are nearly 40 Friends schools nationally, and many, like Wilmington’s, prefer the nickname of the system’s principled and peaceful founders for their teams to inflict pain and disappointment on athletic foes.

15. Seaford Blue Jays

Large, aggressive and beautiful bird makes for an excellent mascot.

14. MOT Charter Mustangs

As equine nicknames go, this one rises above.

13. Mount Sophia Grizzlies

Vicious furry beasts always rate.

12 . Centreville Layton Gryphons

A fine choice, as the gryphon – or griffin – was a frightening mythological beast that was part eagle and part lion and typically created as a statuesque guardian of treasure for royal possessions.

11. Great Oaks Gladiators

With a nickname like that, this school really needs a wrestling team.

10. A.I. du Pont Tigers

School colors should have been black and orange instead of blue and gold, a wrong that A.I. du Pont track teams have recently righted.

9. Appoquinimink Jaguars

See Polytech and Delcastle.

8. Delcastle Cougars

Did we mention cats rule?

7. Polytech Panthers

Cat family nicknames are supreme, especially specific large, intimidating jungle prowlers. The one representing Polytech earns bonus points for the alliterative sound.

6. Sussex Tech Ravens

Big, intimidating birds make excellent mascots and Sussex Tech deserves credit for adopting this nickname upon its emergence several years before the 1996 birth of the NFL’s Baltimore franchise after its move from Cleveland.

5. Tatnall Hornets

As for Newark, these nasty bees fit the school colors and provide an aggressive, attacking symbol for sports teams.

4. Newark Yellowjackets

Newark’s school colors are black and yellow (or gold), making these predatory members of the wasp family an ideal symbol for your athletic teams to, as headline writers have long noted, sting Colonials, Dragons, Vikings and other adversaries.

3. Padua Pandas

Bears always make fine mascots, and the Wilmington all-girls school choosing the adorable, charming Panda as its representative is also wonderfully alliterative.

2. Archmere Auks

News Journal sports stories once frequently referred to Archmere teams as the “Archers” before a late 1960s move to “Auks,” seabirds that aren’t likely to hover near this school’s campus by the Delaware River but nonetheless make for a unique moniker that fits nicely in headlines.

1. McKean Highlanders

Declaration of Independence signer Thomas McKean’s parents were Irish-born Presbyterians, who were frequently referred to as Scotch-Irish. That’s the derivation of this nickname, and the tough club-wielding, club-holding, kilt-wearing mascot, which is actually much more representative of Scotland than Ireland.

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Ranking top 30 nicknames of Delaware high schools