MaxPreps Mascot Mondays: Texas high school mascots

Just as important as a school's name and its location is its mascot. Options abound, and some teams go with the commonplace while others go with the truly unique.

In Texas, there are 1,633 schools with mascots listed in the MaxPreps database. Listed below are the Top 15 most popular mascot names in Texas, the mascot names that only one school owns and other mascot facts/stats.

THEY MUST BE GOOD AT THROWING THE JAVELIN
In Crystal City, the Spinach Capital of the World, they chose a mascot name that is purely Southwestern: The Javelinas. A javelina, known as a peccary, has a lot in common with pigs and maybe even the hippopotamus family and can get as big as about 85 pounds. They're not particularly known as aggressive animals but if cornered, they have tusks and aren't afraid to use them. You'll find javelinas only in the southern areas of the nation near the Mexican border, as they like arid areas. You won't find another high school in the nation that chose the mascot name.

HIPPOS ARE HIP IN HUTTO
The Hippos of Hutto aren't from Africa. Far from it. The hippopotamus is native to the African continent and has no reason to live in the Untied States - except in cases where circuses are involved. According to the Williamson County Historical Society, the school took its name because a hippo got out of a train car in 1915 and made its way to nearby Cottonwood Creek. History says that the local depot agent telegraphed to other jurisdictions to "Stop trains. Hippo loose in Hutto." There was a gap in time, because the site says that the students of Hutto endorsed the mascot in 1923.

THESE BUTTONS CAN BE LETHAL
No, the mascot name at Central Catholic (San Antonio) was not chosen because they absolutely love the little things that keep your clothes on. They are the Buttons at Central Catholic, and if you want to find out the reason why, you'd better think about rattlesnakes. The little rattler at the tip of a baby snake's tail is called a button, and as rattlesnakes mature, they grow another rattle section each time they molt. This is one of those great mascot names that appears to be on thing on the surface, but means something entirely different after some examination.

YEGUAS: CREEK OR ANIMAL?
Two options exist as to why Somerville chose to be the Yeguas. The first, and easiest, is that yegua means mare in Spanish and we certainly can associate mares (adult female horses) with Texas. The second is a much more local vantage point. Yegua Creek, part of the Brazos River drainage basin, flows just outside of town before it drains into Somerville Lake. Whichever reason for choosing the mascot name, the fact is that the people who chose to name Somerville the Yeguas were the only ones in the nation who chose to give their school that mascot name.

STRAIGHT FROM A FAIRY TALE: PIED PIPERS
It's amazing there are any athletes left at Hamlin. OK, that might be too extreme. But the origin of the mascot name of Pied Pipers can be tracked back to Hamelin, Germany, and it's worth noting. A short historical perspective is that a man in the 16th century was hired as a rat-catcher, using his magic pipe, but when he didn't receive payment he instead turned his tune upon local children and it became somewhat of a fairy tale. Because they continually have teams at Hamlin, we're guessing that the legend of the pied piper is a thing of the past.

TOP 15 MASCOT NAMES
# Eagles 151 (There are 2 War Eagles and 1 Fighting Eagles)
# Bulldogs 101 (There is 1 Bulldawgs)
# Tigers 78
# Lions 75
# Panthers 71
# Mustangs 61
# Wildcats 61 (There is 1 Wildkats)
# Warriors 50 (There is 1 Mighty Warriors)
# Cougars 46
# Indians 37
Hornets 35
Pirates 34
Bobcats 28 (There is 1 Bobkatz)
# Knights 27 (There is 1 Royal Knights)
Longhorns 25
# Denotes mascot name is in America's Top 15

MASCOT NAMES USED BY ONLY 1 SCHOOL

Aggies Angoras Antlers Apollos *Armadillos Aztecs Barons Beavers Billies *Blacksmiths *Blizzards Bloodhounds *Bluecats *Bobkatz Bombers Brahmans Bronchos Bruins Buckeyes *Buffs Bulldawgs *Bumblebees Burrs *Buttons Cadets Captains Celtics *Chieftans Colonels Conquistadores *Cottonpickers Cranes

Crushers Cyclones *Daisies *Deer Demons Dons Ducks *Elite Explorers *Exporters Fighting     Crusaders Fighting Eagles Fighting Irish Fighting Owls *Fighting Rams *FireBirds Foxes Friars Frogs Ganders Goats Gobblers Golden Bears Gophers Gorillas *Guard *Harvesters *Hippos Irish *Iron Maidens *Jack Rabbits

*Javelinas *Jaybirds *Kiowas Lumberjacks Lynx Marauders Maroons *Mighty Mites *Mighty Warriors Minutemen *Missions Moguls Monarchs Mountaineers Pacers Parrots *Pied Pipers Plainsmen *Plowboys Porcupines *Provets Punchers *Raccoons *Red Ants *Redfish Ricebirds Roadrunners Royal Knights Sandcrabs Scots Seahawks Sentinels

Shamrocks Silver Foxes *Skeeters Soldiers Stallions Stingarees Stingrays Storm Suns *Swifts Swordsmen Tarpons Toros Troopers Vandals Victors Vipers *Voks Warhorses Watchmen Westerners Whirlwinds *Whitefaces Wildkats Wizards Wolfpack Wranglers *Yeguas *Yellowhammers *Yoemen Zebras

* Denotes that no other school in America has that mascot name

MASCOT STATS
Most popular mascot name is used by 9.2 percent of schools.
There are 246 different mascot names for 1,633 schools.
40 schools have mascot names that no other American school has.
Texas' Top 15 features 11 of America's Top 15 mascot names.