Top 11 WNBA Team Names

By CJ Tiernan

The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) has been playing games since 1997. It currently has 13 teams and is working on getting up to 18 teams by 2030. A lot of the teams exist in the same cities as NBA teams. I have always enjoyed the uniqueness of team names in sports. The WNBA has several names that you don't see anywhere else and a lot really fit the city they're in. Below is a list of my 11 favorite WNBA team names. Note: I didn't include previous team names and I didn't include the team names that are coming in the future for teams that have yet to play a game.

1. New York Liberty

John Mac, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The New York Liberty have the Statue of Liberty as their logo (technically it is now just the torch being held by "Lady Liberty"). That's right. The logo for the team named liberty is also the symbol the country recognizes as a (or the) symbol for liberty. It is a beautiful use of a unique name. And, as a bonus, they also use the color of the Statue of Liberty (that green, oxidized copper color) in their logo and uniforms. They even make the court that color. Awesome!

2. Washington Mystics

The reason I love this name so much is the synergy with the NBA team in town: The Washington Wizards. The Wizards and The Mystics is such a cool combination and they're both such unique names. They just seem so much more fun than naming your team after a cat or a bird, as so many other teams do. It's magical! 😜

3. Las Vegas Aces

The Las Vegas Aces is another team name that perfectly fits the locale. What's Vegas most famous for? Gambling. What's the best card in the deck? An Ace. Las Vegas clearly has an Ace up their sleeve: Head coach Becky Hammon. She has coached the Aces since 2022 and they've won the title 3 of the 4 years she's been there. I can't wait until she gets a chance to be a head coach in the NBA, a role she has long threatened to break the glass ceiling on.

4. Seattle Storm

Seattle Storm is cool name for several reasons. The obvious one is that Seattle is famous for its many days of precipitation. They get rain on 150 to 165 days a year. Interestingly, the volume of rainfall is actually less than the national average. The other cool tie-in is that they play in Climate Pledge Arena. The naming rights were bought by Amazon to promote their goal of being carbon-neutral by 2040. Storm coupled with climate feels right. Storm also works as a great sports name because, when used as a verb, it conjures synonyms like charge, rush, and attack. Also thunder, but that's too soon as the Seattleites (I looked it up, that's really what you call people from Seattle) lost their pro team to Oklahoma City (The one in Oklahoma State), where the name was changed from The Supersonics to the Thunder.

5. Phoenix Mercury

Phoenix is hot. Famously hot. Really, really hot. It is therefore fitting to use Mercury as the team name. Mercury is famously used in thermometers, or was before health and safety were, at least partly, prioritized by the government. You know how doctors used to prescribe cigarettes and kids were allowed to be free-range? Good times. Anyway, Mercury is also the name of the closest planet to the sun. You know the one that's just a large rock because it's so hot nothing has even considered growing there. The planet is named for the Roman god of the same name, who was famous for speed and agility. It's an all-around apt name.

6. Golden State Valkyries

Norse mythology alert! Valkyries are female warriors. They are usually depicted as beautiful women on horseback, fierce in battle and decked out in sick armor. The women's basketball team is named for lady warriors in the city where the men's team is named the Golden State Warriors. Yep, I'd say they nailed that name. Hey hammer, may I introduce you to the head of this nail?

7. Minnesota Lynx

Alright, I know I was ragging on naming a sports team after a big cat earlier, but in Minnesota's defense, they found one that wasn't taken yet. Lynxes are just bobcats with a great PR agent, but it works for two reasons. One, let's be honest: words with an 'X' in them are just cooler. I don't make the rules, that's just the way it is. Two, Minnesota's NBA team is named The Timberwolves so it's really just a fancy name for a dog and a fancy name for a cat. Good spin, Minnesota! Good spin.

8. Los Angeles Sparks

The Sparks have the same color scheme as the Los Angeles Lakers and play in the same arena. Synergy baby! I like the name because a spark is the genesis of fire. When used as a verb, it literally means ignite. It sounds like getting in on the ground floor of something great and powerful. Burn, baby, burn!

9. Chicago Sky

The Chicago Sky works as a name for several reasons. First off, it conjures the image of the Chicago skyline, one of the most famous skylines in the US. The logo even incorporates the tallest building in the skyline: the artist formerly known as The Sears Tower. Sky also works as a great basketball verb, as achieving tremendous elevation is a real asset in the sport. Finally, one of the most famous sights in Chicago is "The Bean" in Millennium Park. The actual name, "Cloud Gate" more accurately encapsulates it's reflective ability to showcase the sky and the skyline.

10. Atlanta Dream

The Atlanta Dream is named after the famous "I have a dream" speech from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It was a speech delivered during the March on Washington in 1963, calling for an end to legalized racism and championing equal rights. The color scheme for the team is a very patriotic red, white and blue. Hmm. Should I have made this number one on my list?

11. Connecticut Sun

The Connecticut Sun have an interesting history. The team is the first professional sports team ever owned by an American Indian Tribe. The team was relocated to the Mohegan Indian Reservation in 2003, after being purchased by the Mohegan Sun. According to Wikipedia, The Mohegan Sun is a casino and entertainment complex spanning 240 acres in Uncasville, Connecticut. If you buy a team, you have every right to name it after you. I'm surprised more billionaires don't do it. Such restraint!

Final Thoughts

To be honest, I only recently started watching or following WNBA games. I'm not a big fan of the NBA, so I wasn't drawn into another professional basketball league (or Association). I only really follow my alma mater: The University of Iowa. We had a player a few years ago, Caitlin Clark, who kinda took the sport by storm and made it must-watch TV. It is because of her that I started watching the league. If they stop the violence that repeatedly gets her injured, I may continue to watch. As of now, only 2 teams that have played a game in the WNBA didn't make list: The Indiana Fever and The Dallas Wings. They are both unique names that you don't see in other leagues or in college, but didn't crack my Top 11. If you have a different order that you'd put these teams in, please let me know in the comments. Thanks!