I was reading an article today on the subject of immigrant groups and their first arrival in Indiana, and the author hit one of my hot buttons by referring to the people of Indiana as Indianans. The last time I heard the word used was on CNN. The time before that was on Fox News. Every time, here is what I think: “This person knows nothing about Indiana, has likely never been here, has probably never known anyone from Indiana, and may even be hard pressed to locate Indiana on an unlabeled map of the U.S.” There is probably no one alive today in Indiana who has ever used that word “Indianan” to describe a Hoosier, unless they’re an author or reporter compelled to do so under publishing and broadcasting standards. Even then, I bet they cringed every time they had to use the word.

Here endeth the rant and beginneth the lesson…

The terms “Hoosier” and “Indianan” have both been around almost as long as the state of Indiana itself. Despite the common usage of “Indianan” by print and later broadcast media, Hoosiers today still find the term irritating. I was actually surprised to learn that in 2016, Indiana’s senators, Dan Coats (R) and Joe Donnelly (D), formally petitioned to have the official term for Indiana residents changed to “Hoosiers” at the federal level. [1] In 2017, junior senator, Todd Young (R), Donnelly’s successor, took up the mantle, stating, “If you look in a dictionary, the word Indianan may appear. But, the first task, the litmus test as to whether or not someone really is from Indiana or has spent any kind of considerable time in Indiana is whether or not they use the word ‘Indianan’ because no one in Indiana ever uses that term. We refer to ourselves as Hoosiers.” [2] In January of 2017, the U.S. Government Publishing Office capitulated, making Hoosier the official designation for Indiana’s residents. [3]

While official government documents and communications may have changed, the term Indianan is still alive and well in print and broadcast media. When Hoosiers hear or see it though, it tends to incite irritation at best and distrust at worst, as well as the occasional expletive. That being said, the use of our residential nickname instead of the more generic and standardized demonym with a suffix of “an,” “ite,” or “er,” actually makes Indiana somewhat unique. Only a handful of states have a name for their residents other than the standardized, suffixed demonyms. They are:

• Connecticut - Nutmegger

• Hawaii - Hawaiian (ethnic Hawaiian); Kamaaina (native-born, nonethnic Hawaiian); Malihini (newcomer)

• Indiana - Hoosier

• Massachusettes - Bay Stater

• New Hampshire - Granite Stater

• Ohio - Buckeye

Although the Government Publishing Office has signed off on these terms as acceptable ways in which to reference residents of the respective states, the manual also notes that the preferred demonyms remain the plain old an, ite, and er versions instead. [4]

The demonyms for some states aren’t so bad, like Floridian, New Yorker, Marylander, or Texan, since they sound natural and are easily pronounced. Others are extremely off-putting or just don’t roll off the tongue so easily, like Illinoisan, New Jerseyite, Utahan, and Delawarean. Most people probably never refer to themselves using the federal government’s designated name anyway, but instead simply say, “I’m from Illinois,” for example. In Indiana though, it’s pretty much a guarantee that people refer to themselves as Hoosiers as often, and likely more so, than they say, “I’m from Indiana.”

But What exactly is a Hoosier?

Well, the fact is that no one really knows when, where, or how exactly the term “Hoosier” first came into use for describing a resident of Indiana. Moreover, no one knows what the word actually meant when initially put into common use, although there are plenty of theories.

• Folklore abounds, and anyone over the age of 35 or so has probably heard a few silly tales about squatters saying, “Who’s ‘ere?,” after a knock at the door, or men yelling “Whose ear?” frequently after bar fights when Indiana was still on the American frontier.

• Other theories have their origins in historical facts, including the 19th century use of the terms “husher” and “hooshier,” in the western and southern regions of the U.S. to describe, “roughnecks,” “hicks,” and “hillbillies.” It’s hard to say how frequently “hoosier” is still used in this fashion today, although at least in St. Louis, Missouri, it’s still a living epithet, similar to “redneck” or “white trash,” and like all such derogatory terms, has actually been adopted with pride by some who might be the targets of its use. [5]

• One of the newer and more interesting, albeit, still probably incorrect, theories comes from William D. Pierson, a professor with Fisk University, who posits that a pioneering black minister by the name of Harry Hoosier preached within the state of Indiana in the early 1800s and that his followers came to be known as “hoosiers,” a moniker eventually attached to residents of the entire state. [6] [7]

According to researchers at Indiana-Purdue University of Indianapolis, the first known publication of “Hoosier” appeared in the Indianapolis Journal in January of 1833, but scholars believe it must have been in common use for some time prior. Leading to this conclusion is that none of the publications in which the word appeared felt the need to explain it’s meaning, implying that anyone who saw it was already quite familiar with it. [8]

So when were Hoosiers Indianans?

Indiana became a state in 1816, and the word Hoosier was already in common use by 1833. I wondered then, how often were people using Indianan to describe Indiana’s people early in the state’s history? Now this may not be the most scientific measure, but I did a quick search on Newspapers.com and here’s what I found.

Between 1813 and 2021, Indianan appears 13,472 times in Indiana publications and 87,163 times in newspapers nationwide, so that’s 73,691 times outside of Indiana. There are a number of factors of course that influence these very unscientific findings, like the number of newspapers in the websites’ database and the context in which each term appeared. That being said, it’s still pretty difficult to believe that Indianan was ever really in daily use within the state of Indiana.

I conducted another search, this time looking for the term Hoosier. Between 1813 and 2021, Hoosier appears in Indiana publications 2,853,970 times and in nationwide newspapers 5,690,165 times, meaning it was published 2,836,195 times outside of Indiana. A couple of things occurred to me with this set of results. The first is that Hoosiers really like the word Hoosier and use it often, and second, and not surprisingly, it seems like Indiana isn’t talked about all that much outside of Indiana. While I didn’t look too hard, it’s also pretty likely that references to Indiana University’s sports teams probably account for many of the out-of-state uses of “Hoosier.”

What’s an Indianan and What’s a Hoosier?

If you ask a Hoosier this question, almost all will say that they’ve never heard of an Indianan, but those who have will probably tell you we’re only Indianans when there’s a political race underway in which the rest of the country is interested in the outcome. And with regard to the definition of a Hoosier, anyone from Indiana is going to say that a Hoosier is just someone from Indiana. If asked to explain what the word really means, you might get some of those tall tales I mentioned earlier, or you may just get a “heck if I know” in response.

The mystery of the word’s origins will probably never be solved, since it’s a mystery that’s been around nearly as long as the word itself.

Sources:

[1] Davich, Jerry. So, Hoosiers, What do You Think of Indianans? The Chicago Tribute (Chicago, Illinois), Friday, April 22, 2016, pages 1- 2.

[2] Gangitano, Alex (2017). They’re ‘Hoosiers’: Government will dump ‘Indianan’ reference. Retrieved 2 May 2021, from https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/jan/12/theyre-hoosiers-government-will-dump-indianan-refe/

[3] Wiechmann, S. (2017). Federal Government Will Now Call Us Hoosiers. Retrieved 2 May 2021, from https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/federal-government-will-now-call-us-hoosiers

[4] “State Resident Names.” State Symbols USA, Retrieved 2 May, 2021, from statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/national-us/state-resident-name/all-state-residents.

[5] “What’s a Hoosier?” St. Louis Magazine, Retrieved 2 May, 2021, from https://www.stlmag.com/news/what-s-a-hoosier/

[6] “Harry Hoosier” (2004) Retrieved 2 May, 2021 from https://indianapublicmedia.org/momentofindianahistory/harry-hoosier/

[7] Webb, Stephen H. “Introducing Black Harry Hoosier: The History Behind Indiana’s Namesake" Retrieved 2 May 2021, from file:///C:/Users/profi/AppData/Local/Temp/11895-Article%20Text-29748-1-10-20140409.pdf

[8] Nosowitz, Dan (2017). The Unsolvable Mystery of the Word ‘Hoosier’. Retrieved 2 May 2021, from https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-indiana-people-called-hoosier

[9] Brooks, William W. “Origin of the word ‘Hoosier’ Part Fact, Part Fancy, Still Being Disputed.” Journal and Courier (Lafayette, Indiana), Saturday, June 1, 1957, page 23.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Indiana Argument. The Journal and Courier (Lafayette, Indiana), Friday, March 7, 1941, page 6.

[12] Could, Filomena. “Atop the Town.” The Indianapolis News (Indianapolis, Indiana), Wednesday, January 22, 1947, page 16.

[13] “Hoosier.” The Lancaster Gazette (Lancaster, Lancastershire, England), Saturday, August 6, 1859, page 7.vb