The best names of the 2019 WNBA season

During the 2018–19 women’s college basketball season, I compiled the best names in Division I among players and head coaches. From Hofstra guard Boogie Brozoski to Sacramento State head coach Bunky Harkleroad, the names did not disappoint — and even inspired a high-stakes Twitter poll a few weeks ago that got nearly 900 votes.

So, with the WNBA regular season just around the corner, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to do it again. I used the rosters on each team’s website as of May 5, the first day of training camp, and included everyone listed, from players to coaches to support staff. (Note: for ease of phrasing, I will use “coach” to refer to both coaches and staff.)

Most common names

Among players, Kelsey is the most common first name and is shared among four players: Kelsey Bone, Kelsey Griffin, Kelsey Mitchell, and Kelsey Plum. Incidentally, Mitchell is one of the most common last names as well, shared among three players. Five other last names and four first names are each also shared by three players, but no two players have the exact same first and last name. Among coaches, there is little overlap, with no first or last name common to more than two people.

In training camp, some coaches (and fans!) might have a difficult time keeping players’ names straight. Two of the Kelseys (Bone and Plum) play together in Las Vegas, and Erica McCall and Erica Wheeler both play for Indiana. Dallas has Cayla George, Kayla Thornton, and Kaela Davis. New York has the not-quite-identical but still tongue-twisting quartet of Kia Nurse, Kiah Stokes, Bria Hartley, and Tina Charles. But Phoenix’s coaches might have the most linguistically challenging roster of all: Alanna (pronounced ah-lah-na) Smith, Brianna (bree-ah-na) Turner, Briann (bree-ahn) January, DeWanna (duh-wah-na) Bonner, and Diana Taurasi can all sound fairly similar when yelled across a basketball court or said in rapid-fire instructions.

The solution is not always as simple as using last names. At the start of training camp, half of the 12 WNBA teams had two players with the same last name, and Connecticut and Las Vegas each had two such pairs.

In Chicago, no two players have the same last name, but fans will need to figure out how to differentiate their chants for “Slooooot” (Courtney Vandersloot) and “Louuuuu” (Katie Lou Samuelson).

A perfect fit

A few players have names that tie into the teams they play for. Angel McCoughtry’s first name seems like a good fit for the Atlanta Dream, and Aerial Powers brought her powers to the Washington Mystics late last summer. (There is no official word from the league on whether she can predict the future, and if so, whether that would be an unfair advantage.) And if you say Candace Parker’s full name, you’ll hear the name of the team she plays for, the (Los Angeles) Sparks.

The “force of nature” team

Five players or coaches have names that reference nature and the elements:

Natasha Cloud, Washington Mystics
Skylar Diggins-Smith, Dallas Wings
Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe, New York Liberty
Mengran Sun, Atlanta Dream
Teresa Weatherspoon (coach), New York Liberty

The “pre-game meal” team

Using only the foods that appear in players’ and coaches’ names, we could make almost a full pre-game meal:

Nia Coffey, Atlanta Dream
Kelsey Plum, Las Vegas Aces
Zykera Rice, Seattle Storm
Sugar Rodgers, Las Vegas Aces
Christie Sides (coach), Indiana Fever
Herb Williams (coach), New York Liberty

All that glitters is gold

Four players have rather sparkly names, headlined by two players who won the shiny WNBA championship trophy last year:

Crystal Bradford, Indiana Fever
Diamond DeShields, Chicago Sky
Crystal Langhorne, Seattle Storm
Jewell Loyd, Seattle Storm

An honorable mention goes to Carolyn Swords of Las Vegas, whose last name shines in a slightly different fashion!

An international league

The WNBA has players who were drafted or signed from 12 different countries, but the league also has an international flavor thanks to these five players’ names:

Jordin Canada, Seattle Storm
Asia Durr, New York Liberty
Paris Kea, Indiana Fever
Courtney Paris, Seattle Storm
Asia Taylor, Indiana Fever

On the domestic side, Chicago’s Cheyenne Parker shares her first name with the capital city of Wyoming. Atlanta’s Renee Montgomery and Meme Jackson and Chicago’s Chloe Jackson share their last names with state capitals.

Broadcasters better brush up on these names

In my article on NCAA Division I head coaches’ names, I shared the five names most likely to trip up broadcasters. In the WNBA, there are several names that could give broadcasters trouble, too. Here are my top five:

Hind Ben Abdelkader, Chicago Sky
Tully Bevilaqua (coach), Indiana Fever
Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas Wings (at least there’s a song that can teach you this pronunciation!)
Emre Vatansever (coach), Chicago Sky
Cecilia Zandalasini, Minnesota Lynx

Terrific trios and dynamic duos

If names had any value in the WNBA market, these trios and duos would have to be on the same teams:

“Birds of a feather”: Sue Bird, Seattle; Sylvia Fowles, Minnesota; Kelsey Griffin, Las Vegas

“Happy holidays”: Karima Christmas-Kelly, Minnesota; Briann January, Phoenix; Noelle Quinn (coach), Seattle

“Mixed metals”: Kahleah Copper, Chicago; Penny Taylor (coach), Phoenix

“Alphabet soup”: AJ Alix, Washington; Amanda Zahui B, New York

“Famous names”: Kennedy Burke, Dallas; Presley Hudson, Seattle

“Grey’s Anatomy”: Kelsey Bone, Las Vegas; Kia Nurse, New York*

*Honorable mentions go to the three players with the last name Gray: Allisha (Dallas), Chelsea (Los Angeles), and Reshanda (New York).

Standalone standouts

A few other names are worthy of mention, but don’t fit neatly into any of the above categories.

Tiffany Bias, New York Liberty
Allazia Blockton, Chicago Sky
Emma Cannon, Connecticut Sun
Essence Carson, New York Liberty
Damiris Dantas, Minnesota Lynx
Glory Johnson, Dallas Wings
Jantel Lavender, Los Angeles Sparks
Mercedes Russell, Seattle Storm
Odyssey Sims, Minnesota Lynx

One name to rule them all

With apologies to all the individuals mentioned above, there was one name that stood above the rest. Drumroll please…

Dana McCracken, the chiropractor for the Seattle Storm!!

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