On this day in 1966 our beloved Saints were born...

Optimus Prime said
Were there any other possible team names considered?

Or was the name definitely going to be Saints?

In the early 1960s when advocating for a New Orleans AFL or NFL franchise, local businessman Dave Dixon frequently and publicly suggested the name 'Saints'. From Dixon's 2010 obituary in the Times-Picayune:

Mr. Dixon promoted exhibition games in 1962 and 1963 to demonstrate New Orleans' base of support. The first game was played at City Park Stadium, which had limited seating. The second date, the doubleheader, played at Tulane, drew more than 75,000 spectators.

"To show how naive I was," Mr. Dixon said, "how foolishly optimistic, in 1962, we passed out season ticket pledge forms for 1963. I still have about 50 of the pencils passed out, with the inscription 'New Orleans Saints, 1963.' "

This blog has collected, transcribed, and annotated several clips from 1960s issues of the New Orleans States-Item regarding the origin of the Saints and the name. If one were motivated, one could go to UNO's or Tulane's libraries (maybe LSU's) and look through the microfiche for images of the broadsheets.

The history of how the Saints came to be called the Saints is an interesting read. The States-Item ran a pro forma "name the team" contest shortly after the franchise was announced. While plenty of of other names were submitted (look through the quotes below), 'Saints' got the most nominations in the contest -- and, really, that name was probably in the bag all along:

25 June 1962, New Orleans (LA) States-Item, “Now the Goal Is in Sight” by Cro Duplantier, pg. 20, col. 7:

We’ve heard it suggested that the team, which could become one of the city’s great tourist attractions, should be called the Saints, capitalizing on another attraction with which the city is identified—jazz.

And now—with the day of decision at hand—we can see it and hear it— the band in the stadium striking up a familiar jazz tune as the New Orleans Saints come marching in to play their first game, the first game by a New Orleans based professional team of any kind.

17 August 1962, New Orleans (LA) States-Item, pg. 19, col. 1 ad:
SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL
(...)
Attend the game, sign the cards, show the world that New Orleans is ready for big-time sports, The American League is watching and so is the entire football world. If for some reason you cannot attend the game (a pre-season game between the Houston Oilers and the Boston Patriots—ed.), please write us your views at the address below.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
P. O. Box 50404
New Orleans, Louisiana

Help us bring the NEW ORLEANS SAINTS marching in—in 1963!

23 August 1962, New Orleans (LA) States-Item, “Dixon Elated by Pledge Response,” pg. 11, col. 2:

DIXON said comments on the cards revealed a great deal of the thinking of the local sports fan.

“A small minority questioned the name New Orleans Saints, apparently thinking it had some pious connotation. We took it from the famous New Orleans song—When the Saints Come Marching In—and I assure you that our boys will not be saints on the football field in any sense of the word.”

“N.O. GOES PRO!” was the headline of the States-Item on November 1, 1966 (All Saints’ Day), when New Orleans was officially awarded a football franchise, but the “Saints” nickname had been popular before this date. The States-Item ran a name-the-team contest in November 1966, and there were 1,082 different suggestions. “Saints” was the most popular entry and also was the winner picked by the newspaper’s judges. On January 9, 1967, the States-Item reported that the “Saints” nickname had been unanimously chosen by the team’s stockholders.

2 November 1966, New Orleans (LA) States-Item, pg. 1, col. 2:
STATES-ITEM CONTEST

... Among the names that have been suggested are the Saints, the Buccaneers, and the Jazz Kings.

4 November 1966, New Orleans (LA) States-Item, pg. 1, col. 1:
PELICANS? CRAYDADS? PRALINES?

“I suggest ‘the Pelicans.’ It is our state bird, too! Saints sounds sacrilegious to me.”

“New Orleans ‘Craydads.’ I think this is the best name because New Orleans and Louisiana are distinctive in their eating of crayfish.”

The New Orleans ‘Pralines.’ A sweet team and full of nuts?”

8 November 1966, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA), “Behind the Sports Scene” by Bob Roesler, sec. 2, pg. 6, col. 1:

There has been a heavy anti-Saints expression from readers. One persons suggests it’ll confuse the pros with St. Aloysius; another hints “Saints” is too religious; still another doesn’t like the idea of calling a hard-nosed linebacker a “Saint.”

10 November 1966, New Orleans (LA) States-Item, pg. 1, col. 2:

LETTERS AND postcards suggesting names ranging from the “Saints” to the “Sugar Daddies” and from “Crescents” to “Cajuns” have been delivered to the States-Item already in its “Name The Pros Contest.”

12 November 1966, New Orleans (LA) States-Item, pg. 1- col.s 1-2:

Letters and cards already flowing in urge name the team the Buccaneers, the Lafitte Pirates, the Bourbons and the Saints.

28 November 1966, New Orleans (LA) States-Item, pg. 1, col. 4:
CRABS, ORANGUTANS? ‘Saints’ Tops List Of Names for Pros

Well, 4,950 persons made some suggestions in the States-Item’s Name the Pros contest. And names, there were 1,082 different ones submitted ...

THE NAME MOST suggested was Saints. In fact, 425 persons suggested Saints. The 10 names suggested most often other than Saints were: Crescents, 370; Buccaneers, Cajuns, 287; Creoles, 237, Dixielanders, 159; Rebels, 145; Sportsmen, 144; Masqueraders, 110; and NOLAS (New Orleans, Louisiana) 103.

Oh, there were some beauties: Mocassins, Mud Bugs, Go-Go Boys, Roving RIver Boys of New Orleans, Armadillos, Creole Tiger Paws, Peacocks, Fieldlarks, Battle of New Orleans, Jazz Carnival Pros, Cotton Pickers, French Quarters, Crescent City Pelican Invaders, Crabs, Desire St. Trolleys, Franchies and many more.

One woman suggested the team be called the Orleans Orangutans in a tribute to the orangutans that were killed in the Audubon Zoo Park Fire ...

(Continued on pg. 4, col. 6—ed.)
Names like Pirates, Rebels, Southerners, VooDoos, Stevedores, Explorers, Flambeaus and Knights.

7 December 1966, New Orleans (LA) States-Item, pg. 1, cols. 1-3:

R. J. HYMEL GETS TICKETS
“Saints’ Is Winning Entry In ‘Name Pros’ Contest

S is for strength.
A is for ability.
I is for integrity.
N is for noteworthy.
T is for teamwork.
S is for spirit.

And, this means success.

It also spells the winning entry in the States-Item’s Name the Pros contest.

It netted two season tickets to next season’s National Football League games here for Roland J. Hymel Jr., 712 Jade, an insurance man.
(...)
THERE WERE 1,082 different suggestions, ranging from Alligators to Zouaves, from Bourbanites to Pralines.

16 December 1966, New Orleans (LA) States-Item, Art Burke column, pg. 22, col. 1:

My guess right now is that the name of the team will be the “Saints.” It has been the name originally suggested by the promoter of pro football here during the past six years, Dave Dixon. And it proved the most popular name, by far, of football fans in the recent contest conducted by the New Orleans States-Item.

9 January 1967, New Orleans (LA) States-Item, pg. 1, col. 2:

It’s Official; Orleans Pros Are Saints

It’s official—they’re the Saints!

Stockholders of New Orleans’ National Football League team have voted unanimously to give the team the name favored by most entrants in the recent States-Item’s name-the-team contest.

The musically-derived name was announced, appropriately, by musician Al Hirt, one of the team’s owners.

“We want the people to know that the name was taken from the jazz number—‘When the Saints Go Marching In’—and has nothing to do with religion,” said Hirt.

Hirt said majority owner John Mecom Jr. and the rest of the stockholders felt it best to go with what they felt to be “the will of the people.”