This article lists nicknames for the city of Chicago, Illinois.
"Velvet City" – A term coined by Rogers Park Noise Punk Heros, Velvet Sunshine.
"Windy City" – The origins of this name are disputed; see Windy City (nickname).
"Chi-Town" – This nickname is also used for the hockey teams Chi-Town Shooters and Chi-Town Shamrocks.
"Second City" – Chicago had the second largest metropolitan area in the United States for most of the 20th century until Los Angeles overtook it in size. It is the namesake of the theater troupe The Second City.
"City of Big Shoulders" – This nickname is taken from the fifth line of Carl Sandburg's poem "Chicago".
"City by the Lake" – Used as early as the 1890s.
"City in a Garden" – English translation of the Latin motto on the city seal: "Urbs in Horto"
"The City that Works" – A slogan from Mayor Richard M. Daley's tenure as mayor, describing Chicago as a blue-collar, hard-working city, a city that doesn't shy from large grand public projects, and also as a city with a history of corruption and bribery.
"Great Commercial Tree" – From the State Anthem of Illinois
"Heart of America" – Chicago is one of the largest transportation centers in America and its location is near the center of the United States.
"My Kind of Town" – From the song "My Kind of Town (Chicago Is)" (music by Jimmy Van Heusen, words by Sammy Cahn, 1964) popularized by Frank Sinatra in the film Robin and the Seven Hoods about a fictional popular Chicago gangster.
"The City Beautiful" – A reference to the reform movement sparked by the World's Columbian Exposition, used by Hawk Harrelson when the Chicago White Sox open a game at U.S. Cellular Field
"Chi-beria" – A play on Siberia, a nickname largely used during the 2014 North American Cold Wave.
"Chiraq" or "Chi-Raq" – Controversial combination of Chicago and Iraq to compare Chicago's high crime rates to the war torn country Iraq. Spike Lee's 2015 film Chi-Raq uses it as the title.
