The UND Frost Giants? School releases list of proposed nicknames

The University of North Dakota Ninjas? What about the Drillers? The Frost Giants?

Those are some of the 1,172 unique submissions that made it past Round One in the school's search for a new nickname.

The names, which have been published online, were suggested by members of the public last month during an open submission process.

UND also released a list of suggestions the school's nickname committee will not be considering.

"We aren't surprised by the high number of submissions," said Susan Walton, vice president for university and public affairs at UND. "People have had a lot of interest in this issue."

Some suggestions are serious (North Force). Some are clearly in jest (Flying Monkeys). Some of the most popular submissions include North Dakota and Flickertails.

"This was about getting as broad a list of suggestions as possible," Walton said. "We're really happy with the breadth of suggestions.

The committee is looking for nicknames that are unique, promote pride and strength, represent the state and region, honor the traditions and heritage of the past and can be a unifying and rallying symbol.

A consulting group will research the suggestions for any trademark or copyright infringement, and the committee will narrow down the choices for a public vote.

School spokesperson Peter Johnson said it's possible names from the "do not consider" list could move to the "consider" list, but it's unlikely any new nicknames will be added to the fold.

The committee is scheduled to meet Wednesday to begin whittling down the list.

The Fighting Sioux nickname was retired in June 2012, after which the state's Legislature enacted a three-year moratorium on a new moniker.

That didn't stop some people from re-suggesting Fighting Sioux as the school's nickname. Other suggestions were simply variations: Fight 'n Sue, Fighting Soo, Fighting Souix, Fighting Sue, Mighty Sioux, Sue, etc.

"We have a lot of fans who have a lot of passion for that name," Johnson said. "We appreciate that passion ... but we can't go back to using that nickname. We need to find a nickname we can use going forward.

"We hope fans can translate that passion to the new nickname."

Here's a look at some of the names on the consideration list:

• Cavalry (Rationale: "North Dakota has a rich mounted cavalry history. The name is unique, fierce, reveres the past and has pride for the future.")

• Reds (Rationale: "The Red River, the defining feature of the area, whose might has tested the people and shown the resolve of the residents.")

• Roughnecks (Rationale: "Describes the hard-working people of the ND oil fields.")

• Winter (Rationale: "Would be so cool to hear crowds chanting ... The UND Winter is coming ... Winter is coming .... It's a dominant season in ND.")

• Zombies ("We already have a green, black, and pink color scheme, and zombies are cool.")

And here are some of those in the reject pile (some for obvious reasons) because they're unavailable from a domain-name standpoint; because they cannot be used under NCAA policy or under terms of the 2007 consent agreement; or because they contain profanity or other inappropriate language:

• Bison (Rationale: "Wouldn't it be fun to mess with Fargo? This would be the ultimate way!")

• Democrats (Rationale: "Because thanks Obama")

• Fighting Irish (Rationale: "We would both be UND with the same mascots and everything!")

• Nice (Hey, that belongs to Minnesota!)

• Kurt Russells ("have you seen miracle? i know you have because you play the clip at every hockey game. he was in tombstone too! BAD A--")

The Associated Press contributed to this report.