List of city nicknames in Connecticut

Several Connecticut community nicknames celebrate a local history of manufacturing various products, such as these Connecticut-made clocks on display in the American Clock & Watch Museum in Bristol.

This partial list of city nicknames in Connecticut compiles the aliases, sobriquets and slogans that Connecticut cities and towns are known by (or have been known by historically), officially and unofficially, to municipal governments, local people, outsiders or their tourism boards or chambers of commerce. City nicknames can help in establishing a civic identity, helping outsiders recognize a community or attracting people to a community because of its nickname; promote civic pride; and build community unity.^[1] Nicknames and slogans that successfully create a new community "ideology or myth"^[2] are also believed to have economic value.^[1] Their economic value is difficult to measure,^[1] but there are anecdotal reports of cities that have achieved substantial economic benefits by "branding" themselves with new slogans.^[2]

Some unofficial nicknames are positive, while others are derisive. The unofficial nicknames listed here have been in use for a long time or have gained wide currency.

• Berlin - Geographic Center of Connecticut^[3][4]
• Bethlehem - The Christmas Town^[5]
• Bridgeport - The Park City^[6][7]
• Bristol - Clock City^[7]
• Cheshire - Bedding Plant Capital of Connecticut.^[8]
• Danbury - Hat City.^[7][9]
• Derby - Connecticut's Smallest City ^[10]
• Groton - Submarine Capital of the World^[11][12]
• Hamden - Land of the Sleeping Giant ^[13]
• Hartford
  • Insurance Capital of the World ^[14]
  • Insurance City^[7][15]
• Madison - Connecticut's Front Porch ^[16]
• Manchester - Silk City ^[7]
• Meriden - Silver City ^[7]
• Middletown - Forest City^[17]
• Naugatuck - Rubber City ^[7]
• New Britain
  • Hardware City^[7][15]
  • Hard-hittin' New Britain^[18]
• New Haven - The Elm City^[7][19] (reported in the 1880s as City of Elms^[20])
• Norwich - Rose City ^[21] or The Rose of New England^[22]
• Stamford
  • Lock City (a reference to the now-defunct Yale & Towne lock factory).^[15]
  • "The City that Works!"^[23]
• Waterbury - The Brass City ^[7][24]
• West Haven - Connecticut's Friendliest City^[25]
• Willimantic - Thread City ^[7]

See also

• Administrative divisions of Connecticut
• List of city nicknames in the United States
• List of municipalities of Connecticut by population

References

State of Connecticut Hartford (capital) Topics Index Constitution Delegations Elections Geography Government History Images People Visitor Attractions Society Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Party strength Regions Connecticut panhandle Coastal Connecticut Gold Coast Greater Bridgeport Greater Danbury Greater Hartford Greater New Haven Litchfield Hills Lower Connecticut River Valley Central Naugatuck Valley Naugatuck River Valley Quiet Corner Southeastern Connecticut Counties Fairfield Hartford Litchfield Middlesex New Haven New London Tolland Windham Cities Ansonia Bridgeport Bristol Danbury Derby Groton Hartford Meriden Middletown Milford New Britain New Haven New London Norwalk Norwich Shelton Stamford Torrington Waterbury West Haven All Towns Andover Ansonia Ashford Avon Barkhamsted Beacon Falls Berlin Bethany Bethel Bethlehem Bloomfield Bolton Bozrah Branford Bridgeport Bridgewater Bristol Brookfield Brooklyn Burlington Canaan Canterbury Canton Chaplin Cheshire Chester Clinton Colchester Colebrook Columbia Cornwall Coventry Cromwell Danbury Darien Deep River Derby Durham East Granby East Haddam East Hampton East Hartford East Haven East Lyme East Windsor Eastford Easton Ellington Enfield Essex Fairfield Farmington Franklin Glastonbury Goshen Granby Greenwich Griswold Groton Guilford Haddam Hamden Hampton Hartford Hartland Harwinton Hebron Hartford Kent Killingly Killingworth Lebanon Ledyard Lisbon Litchfield Lyme Madison Manchester Mansfield Marlborough Meriden Middlebury Middlefield Middletown Milford Monroe Montville Morris Naugatuck New Britain New Canaan New Fairfield New Hartford New Haven New London New Milford Newington Newtown Norfolk North Branford North Canaan North Haven North Stonington Norwalk Norwich Old Lyme Old Saybrook Orange Oxford Plainfield Plainville Plymouth Pomfret Portland Preston Prospect Putnam Redding Ridgefield Rocky Hill Roxbury Salem Salisbury Scotland Seymour Sharon Shelton Sherman Simsbury Somers South Windsor Southbury Southington Sprague Stafford Stamford Sterling Stonington Stratford Suffield Thomaston Thompson Tolland Torrington Trumbull Union Vernon Voluntown Wallingford Warren Washington Waterbury Waterford Watertown West Hartford West Haven Westbrook Weston Westport Wethersfield Willington Wilton Winchester Windham Windsor Windsor Locks Wolcott Woodbridge Woodbury Woodstock Places Boroughs Villages Historic Places Geography