Buzz
If you're a fan of the TV series Peaky Blinders, you're likely familiar with how gangs prior to WWII could get quite inventive with their names. The Peaky Blinders possibly derived their name from their notorious habit of headbutting victims with the sharp peak of their caps, temporarily blinding their targets. (Although, they likely didn’t stash razor blades in their hats.) Here's a look at how 11 other cleverly-named gangs got their titles.
1. The Bessarabian Tigers
This uniquely named gang operated in London’s Jewish enclave of Whitechapel in the early 1900s, engaging in protection rackets and blackmail schemes. Their name traces back to Bessarabia, a region that was part of the Russian Empire at the time.
2. and 3. The Billy Boys and The Norman Conks
If you're a fan of Peaky Blinders season five, you’re already familiar with the notorious Glaswegian Billy Boys. The 'Billy' in the name didn’t refer to the gang’s leader, Billy Fullerton, but rather to William of Orange (‘King Billy’), the Dutch Protestant who deposed Catholic James II as King of England in 1689. The Protestant Billy Boys fought against the Catholic Norman Conks—another gang named after their territory on Norman Street and in homage to William I, the Catholic king who invaded England during the 1066 Norman Conquest. (Clever, right?)
3. The Bowery Boys
One of New York's most infamous gangs, the Bowery Boys got their name from 'the Bowery,' a street in lower Manhattan’s east side. But what’s a 'bowery'? It’s the Anglicized version of the old Dutch term bouwerij, which meant 'farm.' The Bowery was originally just the 'Bowry Lane,' the road to the farm.
4. The Camorra
This criminal organization based in Naples, Italy, may have gotten its name from a fee paid to a security guard for protection in gambling establishments, a practice dating back to at least 1735. Camorra is therefore a blend of the Italian words capo ('boss') and morra, a simple game of chance where players guess the combined number of fingers shown by all players at once (a game similar to rock-paper-scissors).
5. The Dead Rabbits
Notorious Irish rivals to the Bowery Boys, the Dead Rabbits carried a deceased bunny on a pole as their emblem. While the name may seem straightforward, some have suggested more complex theories, including a story about a dead rabbit being thrown during a meeting and considered a good omen. Writer Daniel Cassidy even proposed that the name could be a corrupted form of the Gaelic word ráibéad ('a large, powerful person') combined with an intensifier ('dead,' meaning 'really'). However, many lexicographers have disputed this theory, along with many of Cassidy's Irish etymologies. Sometimes, a dead rabbit is just a quirky name for a gang—and maybe something Elmer Fudd would dream of.
6. The Forty-Two Gang
This Chicago-based gang likely derived its name from having 42 original members, a nod to the tale of Ali Baba and the forty thieves. But Chicago’s Chief of Detectives had a more inventive theory: the gang initially called themselves the Forty Thieves, which in the local dialect sounded like 'Forty 'Teefs,' eventually evolving into 'Forty-Two.'
7. The ’Ndrangheta
Calabria, the 'toe' of Italy, home to the ’ndrangheta criminal group, was once settled by the Ancient Greeks, who left behind the words andros ('man') and agathos ('good'). Combine them, wait a few centuries, and you get the pronunciation ’ndrangheta.
8. The Pinkindindies
The Pinkindindies, or 'Pinking Dindies,' were an 18th-century gang of young men from wealthy or aristocratic backgrounds who robbed and terrorized Dubliners for sport or money. Author David Ryan explains the origin of their peculiar name: It comes from the slang verb to pink, which, according to A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1785), means 'to stab or wound with a small sword, probably derived from the holes formerly cut in both men’s and women’s clothes, called pinking,' and dindies, a variation of 'dandies.'
9. The Plug Uglies
The 19th-century nativist gang of Baltimore, the Plug Uglies, may have gotten their name from the stovepipe hats (known as 'plugs') that their members wore.
10. The Whyos
Why, oh why, did the Whyos earn their name? According to James C. Howell, author of The History of Street Gangs in the United States, it likely refers to the 'bird-like' call that gang members used to signal each other. But don’t be misled by its Dr. Seuss-esque sound: The notorious New York City gang was notorious for its ruthless operations, with a simple leg shot costing just $25.
