Toronto WNBA team reveals 36 failed team name choices
The WNBA is coming to Toronto in 2026, but the team is still in search of a true identity.
In August, the team launched a website titled nameyourteam.ca, with the expansion franchise asking fans to help shape the team’s identity ahead of its league debut in 2026.
“It’s a momentous moment for the league, the players, the game, and for you – the fans. But first, we need a team identity,” the website reads. “We are collecting names, ideas, colours, and creative inspiration from all Canadians to help shape the new name, logo and mascot of Canada’s first WNBA team.”
While submissions are now closed, we’ve since learned of a list of three dozen team names that didn’t quite make the final shortlist.
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Khaleed Juma, who works for the marketing firm Mettle, recently joined the Bringing Home the W podcast to give a bit of insight into what the team’s naming process has been like.
“Our goal isn’t to build the Raptors. Our goal is to build Canada’s first WNBA team,” Juma said. “We really wanted the team to stand alone. We wanted to stand on its own two feet, and we wanted people to have it remembered for what it could be remembered for.”
Inspiration for the name came from various sources, including nature, Canadian icons, pop culture, mythology, various animals, and spin-offs of previous team names.
Along with co-hosts Tanya Casole-Gouveia and Josh McConnell, Juma floated the following ideas that didn’t end up as one of the finalists for the process:
- Arrows
- Asteroids
- Aurora
- Chill
- Dawn
- Dragons
- Flurry
- Foxes
- Freeze
- Geese
- Grads
- Huskies
- Ice
- Loons
- Monarchs
- Naismiths
- Orbits
- Polaris
- Pterodactyls
- Pterodons
- Queen Bees
- Raccoons
- Raptorettes
- Rockets
- Shields
- Stars
- Supernova
- Swifts
- Terror
- Tides
- Towers
- Twisters
- Vipers
- Waves
- Wildfire
- Wolverines
Juma added that team president Teresa Resch laid out a clear list of criteria for picking the team’s name.
“Teresa, at the beginning of this process, challenged us to three things, ‘Can I say it easily?’ ‘Can I read it if I’ve never heard it before and say it easily so phonetically? Does it make sense?’ And when we get to a logo, ‘Can I draw it myself?’, making it a universal symbol.”
The final identity, including a team logo, is expected to be announced over the coming months.
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