# The origin of the name Nickelodeon (the TV network) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 21, 2013, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-name-nickelodeon-the-tv-network/676885 "2013-12-21T07:50:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-name-nickelodeon-the-tv-network/676885/21 "2013-12-22T06:28:53Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Gee, wouldn’t it be a real bitch if kids were, like, you know, motivated to actually look something up in the dictionary? :dubious: :rolleyes: :smack: Why would they even think it was something you could look up in a dictionary? I explained it to my kid once and he was surprised that it meant anything but the name of the channel. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-name-nickelodeon-the-tv-network/676885/22 "2013-12-22T09:59:06Z")
If you ever visit the Lightner Museum in St. Augustine FL, they have some absolutely amazing Nickelodeons. Mechanical musical instruments that play songs using long perforated cards, Kind of like the really early computers. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-name-nickelodeon-the-tv-network/676885/23 "2013-12-22T10:29:37Z")
Here are several senses of the word Nickelodeon: > **[Nickelodeon (disambiguation)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickelodeon_(disambiguation))** > > Nickelodeon is an American pay television channel. > Nickelodeon may also refer to: ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-name-nickelodeon-the-tv-network/676885/24 "2013-12-22T10:34:22Z")
The early movie theaters were called nickelodeons because it cost a nickel to get in and there was a famous theater called the Odeon in Paris. The name of the theater comes from the classical Greek word “odeon” for a theater. There are now other theaters called the Odeon. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-name-nickelodeon-the-tv-network/676885/25 "2013-12-23T05:10:04Z")
It’s a little anticlimactic to learn that the origin of the name is just that they paid someone to come up with something. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-name-nickelodeon-the-tv-network/676885/26 "2013-12-23T05:34:07Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > It’s a little anticlimactic to learn that the origin of the name is just that they paid someone to come up with something. “The story of how two brothers, and five other men, parlayed a small business loan into a thriving paper-goods concern is a long and interesting one. And, here it is: it all began with the filing of form 637/A, the application for a small business or farm…” ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-name-nickelodeon-the-tv-network/676885/27 "2013-12-23T09:05:36Z")
Tom Tildrum writes: \> It’s a little anticlimactic to learn that the origin of the name is just that they paid \> someone to come up with something. I’m not sure what you’re talking about here. By “they paid someone to come up with something,” do you mean that people paid a nickel to get into a theater (an “odeon”)? That’s anticlimactic? You’re going to be disappointed by life in general, I think. That’s what usually happens when you look for the etymology of a word. You eventually get back to something mundane. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-name-nickelodeon-the-tv-network/676885/28 "2013-12-24T05:06:09Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Tom Tildrum writes: > > \> It’s a little anticlimactic to learn that the origin of the name is just that they paid > \> someone to come up with something. > > I’m not sure what you’re talking about here. I was referring to the OP. > [@tvguy1979](#): > > GUS HAUSER (Creator of Nickelodeon): We had an outside firm who counseled us on various names we could use. At the end of that session, I sat in the room and one of the things on the list was Nickelodeon. I said, “Let’s do Nickelodeon.” And that was it. When the thread title promised the origin of the name, I thought it might involve a unique story, or some personal connection. Instead it was a transaction where one corporation asked another to generate a list of names. Someone went down the list and picked one. I don’t mean to sound critical of the OP. It’s interesting in a historical sense; it just doesn’t have soul. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-name-nickelodeon-the-tv-network/676885/29 "2013-12-24T09:00:15Z")
In general, a story that has soul is a lie. ---
**Author:** ![tvguy1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/58f4c7/32.png) [@tvguy1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tvguy1979)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-name-nickelodeon-the-tv-network/676885/30 "2013-12-26T19:57:57Z")
_bump_ ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-name-nickelodeon-the-tv-network/676885/31 "2013-12-26T22:17:40Z")
Why? The topic is pretty played out. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-name-nickelodeon-the-tv-network/676885/32 "2013-12-26T23:20:01Z")
All I can add is that twenty plus years ago this was the answer to **Final Jeopardy**. The question (answer, whatever) was something like, “This current TV network gets its name from an old word for movie theater”. I got it wrong, I could only guess ‘Cinemax’… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-name-nickelodeon-the-tv-network/676885.md?page=1)