Name of Toronto - Nicknames

Nicknames

Toronto has garnered various nicknames throughout its history. Among the earliest of these was the disparaging Muddy York, used during the settlement's early growth. At the time, there were no sewers or storm drains, and the streets were unpaved. During rainfall, water would accumulate on the dirt roads, transforming them into often impassable muddy avenues.

A more disparaging nickname used by the early residents was Little York, referring to its establishment as a collection of twelve log homes at the mouth of the Don River surrounded by wilderness, and used in comparison to New York City in the United States and York in England. This changed as new settlements and roads were established, extending from the newly-established capital.

Adjectives were sometimes attached to Little York; records from the Legislative Council of the time indicate that dirty Little York and nasty Little York were used by residents.

In his book Naming Canada: Stories about Canadian Place Names, Alan Rayburn states that "no place in Canada has as many sobriquets as Toronto." Among them are the nicknames:

• "TO" or "T.O.", from Toronto, Ontario, or from Toronto; pronounced "Tee-Oh". Sometimes used as T-dot.
• "The Megacity", referring to the amalgamation of the former Metropolitan Toronto.
• "The City That Works", first mentioned in a Harper's Magazine article written by Washington Post correspondent Anthony Astrachan in 1975. It refers to the city's reputation for successful urban planning.
• "The Big Smoke", used by Allan Fotheringham, a writer for Maclean's magazine, who had first heard the term applied by Australian Aborigines to Australian cities. The Big Smoke was originally a popular nickname for London, England, and is now used to refer to various cities throughout the world.
• "Hogtown", related to the livestock that was processed in Toronto, largely by the city's largest pork processor and packer, the William Davies Company.
• "Toronto the Good", from its history as a bastion of 19th century Victorian morality and coined by mayor William Holmes Howland. An 1898 book by C.S. Clark was titled Of Toronto the Good. A Social Study. The Queen City of Canada As It Is. The book is a facsimile of an 1898 edition. Today sometimes used ironically to imply a less-than-great or less-than-moral status.
• "Queen City", a reference now most commonly used by French-Canadians ("La Ville-Reine") or speakers of Quebec English, other french-language or Franco-Ontarian newsmedia such as Le Droit or in advertising. The second part of the three-part Toronto: City of Dreams documentary about the city was titled The Queen City (1867-1939).
• "Methodist Rome", an analogy identifying the city as a centre for Canadian methodism.
• "City of Churches".
• "Hollywood North", referring to the film industry.
• "Broadway North", in reference to the Broadway theatre area in Manhattan. Toronto is home to the world's third largest English-speaking theatre district after London and NYC.
• "The 416", referring to the original telephone area code for much of the city (the other area code is 647); the surrounding GTA suburbs, now using area codes 905 and 289, are similarly "the 905".
• "Centre of the Universe", as mentioned in the documentary film Let's All Hate Toronto, as the term is used derisively by residents of the rest of Canada in reference to the city. It is also infrequently used by the media. Outside Toronto, it is sometimes said to be used by residents of the city. The moniker "Centre of the Universe" was originally a popular nickname for New York City, and more specifically Times Square. It has since been used to refer to other municipalities.