Maryland State Names

Maryland Name Etymology and State Nicknames

Middle Atlantic

• Old Line State

• Free State

• Cockade State

• Monumental State

• Terrapin State

• Chesapeake State

• Oyster State

Origin of Maryland State Name

In honor of Henrietta Maria (queen of Charles I of England). The charter that Lord Baltimore received in 1632 from King Charles I of England specified a name for the new colony. It was to be called Maryland to honor King Charles' wife Queen Henrietta Maria (Queen Mary).

Nicknames

Old Line State

According to some historians, General George Washington bestowed the name "Old Line State" and thereby associated Maryland with its regular line troops, the Maryland Line, who served courageously when 400 soldiers in the First Maryland Regiment fought a British force of 10,000 and helped General George Washington's army to escape. Washington depended on the Maryland Line throughout the war, and the soldiers' discipline and bravery earned Maryland its nickname.

Free State

The nickname "Free State" was created by Hamilton Owens, editor of the Baltimore Sun. In 1923, Georgia Congressman William D. Upshaw, a firm supporter of Prohibition, denounced Maryland as a traitor to the Union for refusing to pass a State enforcement act. Mr. Owens thereupon wrote a mock-serious editorial entitled "The Maryland Free State," arguing that Maryland should secede from the Union rather than prohibit the sale of liquor. The irony in the editorial was subtle, and Mr. Owens decided not to print it. He popularized the nickname, however, in later editorials.

Terrapin State

Terrapin State (representative of the decline in standing of the state)

Monumental State

Monumental State (a name which had appeared by 1843, and which derives from Baltimore's nickname of "Monumental City")

Chesapeake State

Chesapeake State (by which name it is known on its license plates).

Oyster State

Oyster State (from the Chesapeake oyster, once considered a great pride for the state)

Slogans

(formerly America in Miniature )
(formerly More Than You Can Imagine )

Capitol

Annapolis

Maryland Postal Code

MD

Maryland Resident's Name

Marylander