What is the origin of the Houston Texans team name?

During the run-up to launching the expansion franchise in 2000 (they did not play until 2002), a series of focus group committees selected a variety of names for the team and whittled them down to three: Apollos, Stallions, and Texans. read more

On March 2, 2000, Houston NFL 2002 announced that the team name search had been narrowed down to five choices: Apollos, Bobcats, Stallions, Texans, and Wildcatters. The list of names was determined after several months of research conducted jointly by Houston NFL 2002 and NFL Properties. read more

At one time Houston had the Oilers, but that team fled to Tennessee in 1997 leaving a football void until 2002 when Houston's new expansion team took the field. read more

During this time, a handful of team names were trademarked for potential use by the franchise, including Apollos, Bobcats, Challengers, Colt 45's, Energy, Hurricanes, Roughnecks, Roughriders, Roustabouts, Stallions, Stormcats, Texans, Texians, Toros, Wildcats, Wildcatters, and Wranglers. read more