MaxPreps Mascot Mondays: Delaware 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 Delaware, there are 45 schools with mascots listed in the MaxPreps database. Listed below are the Top 15 most popular mascot names in Delaware, the mascot names that only one school owns and other mascot facts/stats.

AUK WORD
Archmere Academy (Claymont) went with a mascot name that sounds a little bit like the sound the mascot makes. The auk is a small bird that lives in the ocean, only coming ashore to breed. Auks are said to resemble penguins in terms of color and how they walk but are not related to them. Nobody else in America chose Auks as their mascot, so aside from being the alma mater of Vice President Joe Biden, Archmere Academy has a spot in national prominence.

ABOUT HALF THE SCHOOL NAME
Salesianum (Wilmington) goes by the Sallies. That doesn't mean the mascot is a bunch of women named Sally. It's simply a derivative of the school's name. Sallies is Delaware's other mascot name that no other American school uses.

RIDE ON
The Caesar Rodney (Camden) mascot name, the Riders, comes from a journey Rodney made that ended up sealing Delaware's support of the Declaration of Independence. Top players in Delaware were deadlocked on whether to vote for independence or not, so Rodney reportedly rode 80 miles to Philadelphia through a nighttime thunderstorm to break their deadlock. Rodney's vote put Delaware on the independence side and four days later, the wording was approved. Rodney signed the Declaration of Independence and he is featured on the Delaware state quarter.

CAPITAL RESPECT
Dover, located in the capital city of Delaware, shows respect for the legislative body by using Senators as its mascot. That's not the only school in a capital city that has chosen to do so. Three other state capitals have a high school with Senators as the mascot: Carson City, Nev., Springfield, Ill., and Little Rock, Ark.

RAIDERS IS RARE ON TOP
Three Delaware schools chose Raiders as their mascot, and that's enough to top the list in a tie. Only North Dakota has Raiders atop its list.

TOP 8 MOST POPULAR MASCOT NAMES
# Raiders 3
# Vikings 3
# Warriors 3
Spartans 2
Buccaneers 2
# Bulldogs 2
# Eagles 2
# Wildcats 2
# Denotes mascot name is in America's Top 15

MASCOT NAMES USED BY ONLY 1 SCHOOL

*Auks Bluejays Cardinals Cavaliers Colonials Cougars Dragons

Falcons Golden Knights Green Knights Hawks Highlanders Hillers

Hornets Indians Panthers Quakers Rams Ravens

Redskins Riders *Sallies Senators Tigers Titans Yellowjackets

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

MASCOT STATS:
Most popular mascot name is used by 6.7 percent of schools.
There are 34 different mascot names for 45 schools.
2 schools have mascot names that no other American school has.
Delaware's Top 8 features 6 of America's Top 15 mascot names.