What's in a (sports team's) name?

There is a call to drop sports' teams names and/or logos that make reference to aboriginal peoples, such as the Cleveland Indians and the Edmonton Eskimos.

Although many sports team have animal and bird names (Blue Jays,Tigers, Cardinals, Lions), or weather/geography names (Hurricanes and Avalanche), North American aboriginals aren't the only identifiable group of persons whose names have been adapted by sports teams.

We have the Vancouver Canucks (which is slang for Canadians and at one time was considered derogatory), the Montreal Canadiens (whose nickname is the Habs, which is apparently short for the phrase referring the French residents of Quebec, les Habitants).

We have the Dallas Cowboys, the Ottawa Senators, Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Fransisco Giants, and Oakland Athletes. The Edmonton Oilers.

The Ottawa RedBlacks insist their name has nothing to do with skin colour, but refers to diverse groups of people who have red and black as their official colours, such as other Ottawa teams, the RCMP, Ottawa’s Cameron Highlanders, and the Governor General’s Foot Guards.

And then there are the New York Yankees...