Nicknames of San Francisco

There are many nicknames of San Francisco , California that have been used throughout the city's history. ^{[1] [2]}

• San Fran – Used by non-native residents and those outside of the Bay Area. Curtis Sparrer from Bospar gives the reasons why it is not acceptable to say 'San Fran'. ^{[3] [4]}
• Baghdad by the Bay – title of a book of essays by Herb Caen, and a nickname he used for the city because of the cosmopolitan cultural diversity it shares with the medieval city of Baghdad ^[1]
• Fog City / "City of Fog" – in reference to San Francisco's famous fog ^[1]
• Frisco – also the nickname of the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway, ^[1] disparaged by Herb Caen and some locals. The word is still used today particularly by San Francisco's Black community. ^{[5] [6]}
• Gay Mecca ^{[7] [8] [9] [10]}
• Golden Gate City – in reference to the Golden Gate Bridge ^[11]
• SF
• SFC (San Francisco City)
• Sunset City
• The City – used by native San Franciscans and people in the Bay Area ^[1]
• The City by the Bay – refers to San Francisco Bay ^[12]
• The City of Love – as seen in Cool, Gray City of Love by Gary Kamiya ^[13] and in the lyrics of "San Francisco" by German eurodance group Cascada ^[14]
• The City that Knows How ^[15]
• The Golden City – in reference to the California Gold Rush and golden brown grass on hillsides in the dry season ^[1]
• The Paris of the West – popular in the early 1900s, but no longer in common use ^[1]
• The City of Neighborhoods ^{[16] [17] [18]}

References

1. Garling, Caleb (June 30, 2013). "Don't Call It Frisco: The History of San Francisco's Nicknames". The Bold Italic . Retrieved July 30, 2017.
2. Mike Moffitt (April 4, 2014). "The odd nicknames of California cities". SFChronicle.com. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
3. Bradley, Diana (January 31, 2019). "Bospar to Neil Patrick Harris: Stop calling our city 'San Fran'". www.prweek.com. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
4. "What's in a name? Survey reveals what locals, non-locals call San Francisco". ABC7 San Francisco. January 23, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
5. James Sullivan (October 14, 2003). "Frisco, that once-verboten term for the city by the bay, is making a comeback among the young and hip. Herb Caen is spinning at warp speed". SFChrnoicle.com. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
6. Eskenazi, Joe. "Don't Call It "Frisco" -- If You're Old and White". SF Weekly. Archived from the original on August 10, 2014. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
7. "History Shows SF Has Long Been Gay Mecca". www.outwordmagazine.com.
8. "Study: Gay Mecca San Francisco Has Highest Rent on Earth". www.advocate.com. July 11, 2018.
9. "Iconic San Francisco gay bar to shutter in pandemic fallout". AP NEWS. May 21, 2020.
10. "S.F.'s LGBT press evolves as the city changes | Northern California Media Museum".
11. Woods, Amanda (October 18, 2018). "San Francisco is too expensive even for rich people". New York Post. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
12. "San Francisco, Frisco or San Fran—What's Correct?". Bospar. January 26, 2018. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
13. Jeffery, Clara (September 13, 2013). "'Cool Gray City of Love,' by Gary Kamiya". The New York Times. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
14. "Cascada – San Francisco Lyrics". Genius. Retrieved January 5, 2022. Baby, take me back to the city of love
15. "PPIE: The City That Knows How". SFPL. Archived from the original on April 14, 2011. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
16. https://sfplanning.org/resource/san-francisco-neighborhoods-socio-economic-profiles-2011-2015
17. https://www.sf.gov/news-mayor-lurie-unveils-heart-of-the-city-executive-directive-to-accelerate-san-franciscos-economic-comeback
18. https://www.sfexaminer.com/archives/san-francisco-s-many-15-minute-neighborhoods/article_9dacb07e-a191-583b-9e93-324d6fa459bb.html