# If there are so many banks, why are they the 'First National'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 18, 2002, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-there-are-so-many-banks-why-are-they-the-first-national/104264 "2002-04-18T04:13:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-there-are-so-many-banks-why-are-they-the-first-national/104264/1 "2002-04-18T04:13:09Z")
Yeah, like why _are_ there so many variants on the **First National** Bank of ‘Whatever’ . . . I simply think that if we have one ‘First National Bank’, that it’s somewhat linked to something during the Colonial War. But why do I keep seeing the ‘First National Savings Bank’, the ‘First National Reserve Bank’, and more importantly the ‘First National Bank’ of every state I visit? Doesn’t it seem a little weird? Tripler I’m investing in the _First National Government_ if you care to know. . . ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-there-are-so-many-banks-why-are-they-the-first-national/104264/2 "2002-04-18T04:18:12Z")
NO, it’s not weird. I don’t believe there were any **First National Banks** before 1862. This is when the US got into the money making biz as a government. There is a thread somewhere about **Fifth Third Banks.**. Don’t feel like taxing the poor server at this point. ---
**Author:** ![happyheathen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5e925/32.png) [@happyheathen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happyheathen)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-there-are-so-many-banks-why-are-they-the-first-national/104264/3 "2002-04-18T05:58:04Z")
banks are chartered - either by State or US. ‘First National Bank of \_\__ **’ simply was the first bank in '** _’ to have a US charter (i.e. ‘National’) Since Federally-chartered banks were subject to stricter reserves requirements (among other rules) a ‘National’ bank was perceived to be more stable than a state-chartered bank. Not necessarily true - a clever theif could loot a federally-chartered bank as easily as a state-chartered one. then there were the the ‘Trust’ and ‘Savings’ institutions - see Reagan-era records on how easily these could be plundered. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-there-are-so-many-banks-why-are-they-the-first-national/104264/4 "2002-04-18T06:01:43Z")
A bit of info here… [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020118.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020118.html) ---
**Author:** ![Swede\_Hollow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Swede\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swede_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-there-are-so-many-banks-why-are-they-the-first-national/104264/5 "2002-04-19T03:23:20Z")
Here is another thread that talks about it. (Pay attention to that last poster. He knows what he’s talking about 😉 ) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=102876](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=102876) ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-there-are-so-many-banks-why-are-they-the-first-national/104264/6 "2002-04-19T03:51:32Z")
This is like seeing a **First Baptist church** or a **First United Methodist church**. It simply means the first one in that town. I used to bank with the Fifth/Third National Bank in Cincinnati. I always assumed that the Fifth Bank bought out the well known Third Bank.