When the Colt .45s became the Astros and the origins of other Houston sports team names

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On Dec. 1, 1964 the Houston Colt .45s officially changed the name of the team to the Houston Astros, a move that signaled a step into the future for the franchise, the city of Houston and a fundamental change in how baseball would be played.

The name change, after just three seasons, coincided with the team’s move into the Astrodome the next spring. The Colt .45s branding, which many of us still very much champion (those hats and logo are still off the chain), was a relic of old Texas and old Houston.

You can take a look back at the original home of the Colt .45s in the gallery above.

The Colt Firearms Company was getting a little weird about it too. The gun marker reportedly had reservations about merchandising rights and was likely to start asking about a cut of the revenue, and team president Roy Hofheinz wasn't into sharing.

PRE-DOME: Houston Colt .45s brought majors to town, but didn't stay in Colt Stadium for long

We can’t imagine a national sports franchise’s logo being a smoking gun here in the safe space of 2016.

PHOTOS: Remembering how cool the Houston Colt .45s were Before changing their name to the Houston Astros, our city's Major League Baseball team was known as the Colt .45s and played outdoors. A move into the Astrodome changed things. Click through to see photos from the Colt .45s early history... less PHOTOS: Remembering how cool the Houston Colt .45s were Before changing their name to the Houston Astros, our city's Major League Baseball team was known as the Colt .45s and played outdoors. A move into the ... more Photo: Richard Carson Photo: Richard Carson Image 1 of / 75 Caption Close When the Colt .45s became the Astros and the origins of other Houston sports team names 1 / 75 Back to Gallery

The Astros name was sleek and futuristic. And with NASA, just south down I-45, working on putting a man on the moon, it was also a point of pride, which Hofheinz fully understood.

Basketball fans, on the other hand, had an astronomical themed team right from the start.

Many casual fans may not know that the Houston Rockets weren’t named that because of the space industry in Houston, but because of the rockets that were built in their original home.

The team got its name in 1967 while they were still based in San Diego, the winning entry in a naming contest. Maybe the winning contestant was psychic, or maybe it was just coincidence that the team's original home also had orbital ties.

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The boys on Kirby, the Houston Texans, probably have one of the most unimaginative team names in the NFL. It’s no secret that even some super fans dislike the name. On Sunday afternoons we sometimes call them a lot of other things too.

Other possible names leading up to the team’s 2002 debut included the Bobcats, Stallions, Wildcatters and the Apollos: Animals, oilfield workers and more NASA. In the end, the franchise was nicknamed the Texans. However, they weren't the first Texans to take the field in the Lone Star State.

The Dallas Texans existed in 1952 as an NFL team, from 1960-1962 as an AFL squad (before moving to Kansas City to become the Chiefs) and finally as an Arena League team in the early '90s. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones revived the team in 2000 and changed the name to the Desperados. There were also minor league hockey teams in Dallas in the '40s called the Texans.

Fun fact: the Texans’ logo is actually Spanish Fighting Bull, which explains mascot Toro’s sometimes surly attitude.

(Let's all pour one out for the Houston Oilers, whose name was all too perfect for Houston. The folks in Tennessee couldn't handle that much awesome and had to change the team name to the Titans two years after the franchise arrived in Nashville.)

Many in Houston are still a bit unclear as to the why MLS soccer team the Houston Dynamo’s original name, 1836, was scrapped.

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The nixing of 1836 was expected after the name was deemed offensive by some in the Hispanic community shortly after its unveiling Jan. 25, 2006. Some bloggers at the time said that the move was a slap in the face to Texas history and was a cave to political correctness.

The Dynamo and MLS have maintained that 1836 was meant to honor the year Houston was founded. However, 1836 was also the year Texas fought for and gained independence from Mexico, prompting some in the Hispanic community to object.

The term “Dynamo” was more in line with the city’s energy industry. The word dynamo, an early term for generator and short for dynamoelectric machine, is well-known universally.

"Dynamo is a word to describe someone who never fatigues, never gives up," then-team president Oliver Luck said at a March 2006 press unveiling. "The new name is symbolic of Houston as an energetic, hard-working, risk-taking kind of town."

The Dynamo name had its own peculiar and dark history before the Houston soccer team ever popped up, as Michael Baumann documented on Grantland.

REMEMBER THE 1836: Goodbye 1836, hello Houston Dynamo

The name of the Houston Dash, the city’s National Women's Soccer League team founded in 2013, has been called generic and plain but we think that its quick and to the point. It also sounds good next to Dynamo. According to reports, they almost had “Dynamo” in their name but trademark issues prevented that. “Dash” is a synonym for “dynamo” so the team received their moniker.

The coolest team name in Houston history though was the short-lived Texas Terror of the Arena Football League. They even had Frankenstein’s monster in the logo. It was a coup for kids into horror movies and football.

After two years, 1996-1997, the name was changed to the (ugh) Houston Thunderbears. The team was gone by 2001, thankfully.

And lest we forget the USFL's Houston Gamblers, who had a great logo and color scheme, and a name more suited for Las Vegas than the casino-free Texas Gulf Coast.