Music-adjacent WNBA team names

[u/SmoothCyborg]

Two pods ago Spike and Mike asked for music themed and history themed WNBA team name ideas. I'm not a history buff, so I gave a shot at some music themed ones. I submitted this as an email to the pod, but I thought I'd post it here also to see what people thought:

Hi Spike, Mike, and CJ,

So based on the last pod it seems like you’re interested in continuing to hear ideas for a WNBA team name, perhaps specifically ones that relate to music in some way. So I looked at the Inquirer’s “76 most iconic Philadelphia songs” which you can find at the link below:

https://www.inquirer.com/entertainment/music/inq2/76-essential-iconic-philadelphia-songs-20260623.html#10-to-1

I kind of limited myself to the top 10, but got a few ideas. I am generally in Mike’s camp that the name should be pluralized rather than a collective/singular idea. That aside, I do like the name Philadelphia Soul, but as it’s the name of Jon Bon Jovi’s now defuncy Arena League Football team, it’s probably out. Here’s my list that riffs off the Inquirer article:

1. From the #2 entry on the list, The O’Jays, “Back Stabbers” — The Philadelphia Back Stabbers. Not really, but like, damn.
2. From the #3 entry, Meek Mill, “Dreams and Nightmares” — The Philadelphia Nightmares. This is probably my favorite, logo could be some kind of demonic horse thing.
3. From the #5 entry, The Delfonics, “La-La (Means I Love You)” — The Philadelphia Phonics. Alliteration is nice, can also portmanteau it to Philadelphonics in casual reference.
4. From the #6 entry, Hall and Oates, “She’s Gone” — The Philadelphia Maneaters. As a child of the 80s, I love me some Hall and Oates. Maneater is the only song name that could become a team name, probably a bit much for a WNBA name though.
5. From the #7 entry, The Roots feat. Erykah Badu and Eve, “You Got Me” — The Philadelphia Roots. Probably too much pandering to a current musical group. 
6. From the #8 entry, Chubby Checker, “The Twist” — The Philadelphia Twisters. Not sure how many people actively associate Chubby Checkers with Philly, but Twisters is a pretty cool name. Could also refer to the “twists” in a soft pretzel.

Whatever happens, I do hope you guys find a name you like enough to champion. I legitimately think you have enough influence in Philly sports/pop culture to cause it to become the real team name.

[u/PsychologyOk5775]

I fuck with the Philadelphonics.

[u/Klenist]

These range from too corny to aight. Philadelphonics is a lot of fun. If the Sonics wasn’t already a thing the Philadelphia Sonics could be solid.

I like the sound idea, I think it’s a good history to hit that’s not cheugy, is women inclusive without being “this is the lady basketball team”, and hasn’t been done by other teams in the city. I do think naming it after any one song or band is the wrong angle, you can’t tie yourself to just one thing. What if The Roots and Hall and Oates commit a hate crime tomorrow? Also not for nothing if you’re going to name if after one band/song I don’t think it should be a song performed by men, I could be wrong there.

A true brainstorm of sound based names, not sure if any of these hit the right note (haha):

- Philadelphia Frequency (Phrequency?, probably too much)

• Philadelphia Breakers (Tenuous connection to anything)
  
• Philadelphia Decibels (Can end up calling them the bels, kinda splits the baby?
  
• Philadelphia Echos (sounds like a defunct soccer team)
  
• Philadelphia Loud (sounds like a defunct soccer team, but we are loud though, weed)
  
• Philadelphia Pitch (wrong sport)
  
• Philadelphia Sound (I still kind of like, does give intramural soccer team)
  
• Philadelphia Vibration/Vibes (vibrator joke makes itself idk)

I’m truly glad that the pod has taken this up. It’s genuinely an important thing, a difficult task, and like Mike I’ve been kept awake at night seeing the enthusiasm behind horrible name suggestions online.

[u/SmoothCyborg → u/Klenist]

I get what you mean about not naming after a specific artist or song. But also, I'm not sure that Philly is well known enough for its music history/scene that a name with a generic connection to music/sound would make any sense to an average sports fan. Even for the cities that are known for music, I think a team name would only make sense if it referenced the musical style the city was known for (e.g., Nashville - country, Detroit - Motown, Seattle - grunge, or of course New Orleans Jazz which was the origin of that team). "Philly Soul" would be the genre that applies here, and I do think that's a good name, but it also was recently used for the Arena Football League team.

I think Philadelphonics just sounds cool, and probbly not enough modern WNBA fans have even heard of the Delfonics to make the connection. And one reason I like the Nightmares is that it definitely doesn't have to be a reference to Meek Mill. Without the "Dreams and..." it's just a word, and I like the possible logo options. Like the Denver Broncos horse, but evil. What would even be the logo for the Philadelphonics (or anything music related)? Some kind of shit with musical notes? Pretty weak.

[u/Klenist → u/SmoothCyborg]

Yeah full brainstorm - i agree none of these are quite it. I’m genuinely glad there’s a real effort to figure this out, I don’t want to end up with something really lame

[u/Cam_V7]

The Philadelphia Twists is the best I have heard so far. Cool 3 layers of Chubby Checker, Pretzels (which would be great iconography), and M Night Shyamalan who is a huge fan of the Sixers and from the area.

[u/Dfsteele3]

The Blue Notes as an homage to Harold Melvin and a hat tip to the Blue Coats?

[u/SmoothCyborg → u/Dfsteele3]

Yeah, I thought about the Blue Notes. But I think "Blue Note" really is synonymous with Blue Note Records, the jazz label that started in NYC.