MaxPreps Mascot Mondays: Connecticut high school mascots

Just as important as a school's name and its location is its mascot. Options abound, and some teams go with the commonplace while others go with the truly unique.

In Connecticut, there are 233 schools with mascots listed in the MaxPreps database. Listed below are the Top 15 most popular mascot names in Connecticut, the mascot names that only one school owns and other mascot facts/stats.

THEY'RE NOT THE COPS
Jonathan Law High School is better know as Law (Milford), and the mascot is the Lawmen. It's got nothing to do with enforcing the laws of the land, though. The school is named after a colonial governor who ruled well before the United States was created. It doesn't appear that the female teams alter the name to Lawgals, Lawwomen or anything else.

NOISES FOR NO PARTICULAR REASON
Nobody online seems to know how Hale Ray (Moodus) became the Noises. There's plenty of info on Nathan Hale, the school's namesake. He is the official state hero of the State of Connecticut, there's a statue of him in front of the Tribune Tower in Chicago and he spied on the British and ended up paying the ultimate price after he got caught. The mascot at Hale-Ray is the Noises, and it doesn't seem to fit with any of the historic events Hale was involved in.

CONNECTICUT LOVES ITS WINGED CREATURES
We're not going to count birds or bugs in this section, but Connecticut schools seem to love winged creatures with scaly skin. Blue Dragons, Dragons, Green Dragons, Griffins, Pterodactyls and Wyverns are all part of the list.

REPRESENTING THE ENEMY
Connecticut was a part of Great Britain before the United States was created and British soldiers wore red coats. At Berlin, they still pay homage to the Redcoats, even though the British lost the Revolutionary War. It's an interesting concept to think about: Berlin's mascot was America's enemy at one time.

HOME OF THE HIGHLANDERS
Highlanders is No. 12 on the list of most popular mascots in Connecticut and that is noteworthy because Highlanders didn't make the Top 15 in any other state in America. A Highlander is a soldier from the Scottish highlands, and in 1790, Scots were the second-most plentiful nationality in Connecticut according to "The History and People of Connecticut" by Rickie Lazzerini.

TOP 15 MOST POPULAR MASCOT NAMES
# Panthers 14
# Eagles 10 (There is 1 Golden Eagles)
# Indians 10
# Bulldogs 9
# Wildcats 9
# Falcons 8
# Tigers 8 (There is 1 Mighty Tigers)
# Warriors 8
Crusaders 6
Rams 6
Spartans 6
Highlanders 5
Bears 4
Beavers 4
# Lions 4
# Denotes that mascot name is in America's Top 15

MASCOT NAMES USED BY ONLY 1 SCHOOL

*Academics Bearcats *Bellringers Big Red Black Knights Blue Dragons Blue Knights Blue Wave Blues Bruins Bucks Cadets Cardinals Cats Chancellors Chargers Chiefs Chieftains

*Classicals Clippers Colonels Condors Cowboys Crimson Knights Dragons Gaels Generals Golden Eagles *Golden Hurricanes Golden Knight Governors Green Dragons Green Knights Green Wave Greyhounds Griffins

Hatters * Hearts *Howling Wolves Huskies *IceCats *Jesuits Kangaroos Kingsmen *Lawmen *Marists *Mighty Cardinal *Mighty Tigers Mountaineers Nighthawks *Noises Patriots Pirates Presidents

*Pterodactyls Rebels Red Devils *Redcoats Redmen Sachems Senators Storm Terriers Thunderbirds Titans Tomahawks Trailblazers Warhawks Whippets *Wild Boars Wolfpack *Wreckers Wyverns

* Denotes that no other school in America has that mascot name

MASCOT STATS:
Most popular mascot name is used by 6 percent of schools.
There are 108 different mascot names for 233 schools.
17 schools have mascot names that no other American school has.
Connecticut's Top 15 features 9 of America's Top 15 mascot names.