Nicknames of Cleveland

The city's nickname "CLE" is derived from the IATA code for Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
"The Forest City" is Cleveland's oldest nickname, as used here for the Forest City Bank Building in the Ohio City neighborhood.

There have been several nicknames for the City of Cleveland throughout its history. These include:

  • "The 216" – Referring to the local area code.[1][2]
  • "America's North Coast" or "The North Coast" – Referring to the city's geographic position on the Lake Erie shore.[3]
  • "Believeland" – Originated in 2007 and culminated in the 2016 NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors.[4]
  • "The Best Location in the Nation" – Nickname commonly used for Cleveland during the 1950s, also referring to the city's geographic position.[5][6]
  • "C-town" or "C-land" – Used by many performing artists and locals to denote Cleveland.[3][7]
  • "City of Champions" – Referring to Cleveland's golden age of sports victories in the 1940s and 1950s.[8][9]
  • "City of Light"[10]
  • "The CLE" or simply "CLE"[11] – From the IATA code for Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
  • "The Cleve" – Nickname used in TV show 30 Rock.[12][13]
  • "The Forest City" – Cleveland's oldest nickname. Introduced in the early 19th century, it refers to the forested nature of the city.[14][15][3][11]
  • "The Land" – A term originating in Cleveland-made hip-hop music in the 1990s, and became popular in the national media in the mid-2010s.[11][16][17]
  • "Metropolis of the Western Reserve" – A historical nickname for Cleveland, referring to the historical Connecticut Western Reserve.[3]
  • "The Mistake on the Lake" or "The Mistake by the Lake" – A pejorative term for the city, originating from the late 1960s.[3][18][19]
  • "The New American City"[20]
  • "Prodigy of the Western Reserve" – A nickname for Cleveland coined by local journalist George E. Condon, also referring to the Connecticut Western Reserve.[21]
  • "The Rock and Roll Capital of the World" – Originated in the early 1970s. Refers to Cleveland's association with rock and roll music. Today, Cleveland is home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[11][22]
  • "Sixth City" – An early 20th century nickname due to Cleveland being the sixth largest city in the nation at the time.[23][24]
  1. ^ 216 Bot's Twitter page
  2. ^ Stipe Miocic leads Cavaliers championship parade - Fansided.com
  3. ^ a b c d e Marshall, Alli (January 24, 2007). "Of Cleveland, by Cleveland, for Cleveland (and the world)". MountainX: Asheville Arts and Entertainment. Mountain Xpress. Archived from the original on June 17, 2011. Retrieved July 5, 2010. Nicknames include the 'Forest City,' 'Metropolis of the Western Reserve', and 'C-Town.'
  4. ^ AP (June 6, 2016). "The Wait: Cleveland Rocks, Aches for Sports Championship". New York Times. Retrieved June 18, 2016. I feel like some of the energy from 'Believeland' has opened up something sort of spiritual that is going to help all of this come together.
  5. ^ Porter, Philip W. (1976). "Chapter Nine: Erieview, the Big Mistake: 1953–1962". Cleveland: Confused City on a Seesaw. Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State University Press. p. 180. ISBN 9780814202647. Retrieved July 22, 2009. Transcription at The Cleveland Memory Project website.
  6. ^ "Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co.". The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Case Western Reserve University. April 4, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  7. ^ Neville, Anne (August 16, 2009). "Buffalo by any other name". The Buffalo News. Retrieved October 25, 2010. Cleveland has been called by many titles, including The Forest City, The Metropolis of the Western Reserve and The Rock 'n' Roll Capital of the World. The city is also affectionately called... "C-Town"[dead link‍]
  8. ^ Schneider, Russell (November 3, 1991). "Those Championship Seasons: Cleveland's Rich Sports History". The Plain Dealer. p. 206. Once upon a time, Cleveland was known as the 'City of Champions.'
  9. ^ "Mayor Proclaims Sunday 'Browns Anniversary Day'". The Plain Dealer. October 18, 1955. p. 29. In his proclamation, Mayor Celebrezze calls attention to the Browns' 'great organization, which, during the past decade, has been an instrumental factor in helping earn the title for Cleveland as the 'City of Champions.'
  10. ^ Scene Staff (March 4, 2016). "21 Fun Cleveland Facts to Wow Your Friends and Neighbors". CleveScene.com. Cleveland Scene. Archived from the original on 2016-05-13. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  11. ^ a b c d Press release (April 13, 2016). "A Tale Of Two Host Cities: Philadelphia And Cleveland Put On 2016 Political Conventions". PR Newswire. PR Newsire Association LLC. Archived from the original on June 26, 2016. Retrieved June 26, 2016. Nicknames: ... Cleveland - Forest City, Rock and Roll Capital of the World, The Land, The CLE
  12. ^ Rupersburg, Nicole (May 6, 2012). "Flee to the Cleve". New York Post. New York Post. Retrieved June 18, 2016. Flee to the Cleve
  13. ^ Adams, Erik (November 18, 2014). "30 Rock: "Cleveland" / "Hiatus"". A.V. Club. The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 18, 2016. Jack speaks the vacation wishes of every red-blooded American: "We'd all like to flee to the Cleve and club-hop down at the Flats and have lunch with Little Richard…"
  14. ^ "Forest City". The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Case Western Reserve University. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  15. ^ "The Forest City". Forest City Forever. 20 July 2012. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  16. ^ Smith, Troy L. (January 18, 2016). "Cavaliers-Warriors rivalry pits 'The Land' vs. 'The City'". Cleveland.com. Northeast Ohio Media Group. Retrieved June 9, 2016. Meanwhile, since LeBron James' return to Cleveland, Cavs fans have taken to calling their hometown 'The Land.'
  17. ^ "Why is Cleveland called The Land?".
  18. ^ Jeff Jacoby (March 17, 2010), "Fixing 'the mistake on the lake'", The Boston Globe
  19. ^ Edward McClelland; Ted McClelland (2016). How to Speak Midwestern. Belt Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9977742-7-6.
  20. ^ "Cleveland - The New American City". Retrieved 2016-06-18.
  21. ^ Condon, George E. (1979). Cleveland: Prodigy of the Western Reserve. Tulsa: Continental Heritage Press. ISBN 9780932986061.
  22. ^ "Rock 'n' Roll". The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Case Western Reserve University. 2009. Retrieved June 22, 2010.
  23. ^ "Cleveland Court Winner: Sixth City Gets Permanent Possession of Inter-Lake Trophy" (PDF). The New York Times. August 3, 1919. Retrieved July 6, 2010.
  24. ^ "Ohio: Sixth City". Time.com. October 11, 1937. Archived from the original on August 18, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.