They’re called the New England Patriots because the team wanted a name that honored the region’s Revolutionary War history and its broader fan base across multiple northeastern states, not just Boston.

From Boston to “Patriots”

  • The franchise began in 1959–60 as the Boston Patriots , a name chosen after a local name-the-team contest.
  • “Patriots” refers to the colonial American patriots who fought against British rule in the Revolutionary War, a story deeply tied to Massachusetts events like the Boston Tea Party and the battles of Lexington and Concord.
  • The name fit perfectly because Boston is often seen as a symbolic birthplace of the American Revolution, so the patriotic identity matched the city’s history.

Why “New England” Patriots?

  • In 1971, the team moved to a new stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, located between Boston and Providence, and wanted to appeal to fans across the entire New England region, not only Boston.
  • “New England” is the traditional name for the six-state region in the northeastern United States (Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Connecticut), so adding it signaled a regional, not just city, identity.
  • The team briefly considered “Bay State Patriots,” after Massachusetts’ nickname, but it was rejected partly because of how easily rivals could twist the initials into a joke (“B.S. Patriots”).

Little Naming Trivia

  • The final choice of “Patriots” came after ideas like “Minutemen” and “Bulls” were considered; local sportswriters and fan submissions helped narrow the list.
  • Once Foxborough became the long‑term home, keeping “Patriots” but switching “Boston” to “New England” let the team keep its Revolutionary War symbolism while embracing fans across the wider region.

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