Nashville Nickname

Nashville has several nicknames. Some only locals use. Some the tourist use. We are gonna go over these Nashville monikers telling you what they are, where they originated from, and possibly who actually uses each one.

There are several Nashville nicknames such as Music City U.S.A., Athens of the South, NashVegas, Cashville, Little Kurdistan, The Protestant Vatican, or The Buckle of the Bible Belt. The most common is Music City U.S.A. in which is known across the world. Lots of the locals joking use NashVegas.

So where did these Nashville monikers come from? Let us look at each one to figure it out.

Nashville Nickname – Music City U.S.A

Let us start with the most popular first, The Music City.

The nickname Music City dates as back as far as 1873 when Queen Victoria heard an astounding performance by the Fisk Jubilee Singers. The very talented singers were touring Great Britain and Europe to raise money for Fisk University, a famous college here in Nashville. Queen Victoria was so taken by the performance of the Fisk Jubilee singers that she was reported saying “These young people must have surely come from a musical city.

Now let’s move the clock forward to the 1950’s where a WSM-AM radio announcer by the name of David Cobb used the term Music City over the air. It just stuck from thereon.

Honestly, this is by far the most fitting Nashville nickname that can be used. With all the radio stations, musical museums, recording studios, and Nashville is the home of the Grand Ole Opry. No wonder the name stuck.

A big thank you to the Fisk Jubilee Singers for making Nashville known worldwide.

Nashville Nickname – Athens of the South

The next possibly worldwide known Nashville nickname would be Athens of the South. This is actually Nashville’s first nickname it is just not as well known as Music City.

Now, one might believe this is because we have an exact replica of the Parthenon located in Athens Greece. This isn’t exactly true. The Nashville Parthenon is a symbol of Nashville being the Athens of the South, not the actual reason the nickname exists.

Centuries ago Athens Greece was recognized as a center of learning. What does that have to do with Nashville? Fairly simple actually. Even in Nashville’s early beginnings, it had a dedication to higher learning. It was the first city in the south to establish a public education system. The Fall School building was built in 1898 is located on 8th Ave, this is the oldest public school building still remaining in Nashville. It is now the Nashville Church of Scientology and Celebrity Centre.

By the end of the 19th Century, there were many highly respected colleges built in Nashville. One of the first bing Frisk University mentioned above, it was founded in 1865.

The Protestant Vatican

I’m actually gonna have to expand on this Nashville nickname. The Protestant Vatican, The Buckle of the Bible Belt, and The City of Churches are pretty much used equally for the same reason.

It has been said that Nashville has the highest denominational buildings per capita of any city in the United States. Based upon some of the research I’ve done for this entry of this article there are about 700 worship buildings. This number encompasses many religions.

The term “The Buckle of the Bible Belt” is also shared with Abilene, Texas.

Little Kurdistan

The is in reference to an area in South Nashville that has about 15,000 Kurds living in that area. The little area is home to the largest Kurdish community in the United States.

Kurdish immigration to Nashville began in 1976 to escape persecution at the hands of Sadam Hussein. In the early 1990’s was when “Little Kurdistan” had the most growth. This was due to Saddam Hussein unleashing genocidal attacks on the Kurds, forcing thousands to relocate. Many came to Nashville to settle in.

When I was IT at a college in Nashville I worked with a couple of fellas that lived over in that area. They both are awesome caring people. I had so many good laughs and good times working with them.

Check out this article about the “Tour of Little Kurdistan“.

Cashville

This Nashville nickname came about because of a rapper named Young Buck who is from Nashville. In 2004 he released an album with G-Unit called “Straight outta Cashville”.

NashVegas

Well, this one is just a head-scratcher for me. I’ve been to Las Vegas and obviously Nashville. The only remote similarity would be the lights at the Honky Tonk Highway end of Lower Broadway. Which is exactly why Nashville got that nickname. All the pretty lights on Lower Broadway … Yee Haw, time to party!!

Other articles of interest for anyone visiting Nashville