Miami University’s name confuses people every year, especially when the RedHawks make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament or knock off a Power Four opponent in football. The school sits in Oxford, Ohio, about 35 miles northwest of Cincinnati, with no palm trees or ocean breeze in sight. So why the tropical-sounding name?
The answer predates the state of Florida itself.
The Myaamia People: How Miami University Got Its Name
Miami University takes its name from the Miami Valley, the region in southwestern Ohio surrounding the Great Miami River. That river, and the valley it carved through the landscape, were both named for the Myaamia people, an Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe that inhabited the area during European settlement. The university’s connection to the Miami name runs through geography and Indigenous history rather than anything to do with South Florida.
The Myaamia originally lived in a territory spanning present-day western Ohio, northern Indiana, and southern Michigan before European-American settlers pushed them westward. Most were forcibly relocated to Kansas and eventually Oklahoma during the 19th century through federal Indian removal policies. Today, the federally recognized Miami Tribe of Oklahoma maintains a unique partnership with the university that carries its ancestral name.
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President George Washington signed an act in 1795 that set aside land in the Miami Valley for an educational institution. The Ohio legislature formally chartered Miami University on Feb. 17, 1809, making it the 10th-oldest public university in the United States. The school welcomed its first students in 1824.
For context, Florida didn’t become a state until March 3, 1845, a full 36 years after Miami University was already chartered. The University of Miami in Coral Gables wasn’t founded until 1925, more than a century after its Ohio counterpart. This timeline explains why Miami University alumni often repeat a simple phrase when confusion arises: Miami was a university before Florida was a state.
Miami of Ohio vs. University of Miami: Why Two Schools Share the Same Name
The informal designation “Miami of Ohio” emerged purely as a geographic clarifier. When the University of Miami opened in South Florida during the 1920s real estate boom, suddenly, there were two prominent schools sharing a name derived from two different Indigenous sources. The Florida school took its name from the Miami River in South Florida, which was named for the Mayaimi people who lived near Lake Okeechobee, a separate tribe from the Myaamia of Ohio.
Miami University’s official name has never included “of Ohio.” The school uses “Miami University” on all formal documents and prefers that designation. The parenthetical addition exists solely for practical purposes, helping distinguish the Oxford campus from the Florida institution in sports broadcasts, news coverage, and casual conversation.
The two schools played each other in football for the first time since 1987 in September 2023, with the University of Miami winning, 38-3, in what was billed as “The Battle for Miami.” The matchup generated national attention precisely because of the name confusion, with broadcasters repeatedly explaining the difference between the two programs.
Miami University’s relationship with the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma represents something beyond naming rights. The partnership began in 1972 when tribal chief Forest Olds visited the Oxford campus, and it has evolved into one of the most extensive collaborations between a public university and a sovereign tribal nation in the country. The Myaamia Center, established in 2001 and housed on Miami’s campus, leads research and educational initiatives focused on language and cultural revitalization for the tribe.
From Redskins to RedHawks: How Miami University Changed Its Nickname
The university changed its athletic nickname from Redskins to RedHawks in 1997 after the Miami Tribe passed a resolution in 1996 asking the school to discontinue using Native American imagery. Rather than fight the request, Miami embraced the change as part of its broader commitment to the tribal relationship. Today, more than 40 Myaamia students attend Miami University through a heritage scholarship program, and the four-year graduation rate for students in that program exceeds 90%.
The connection to living history sets Miami University apart from schools with similar names elsewhere. The “Miami” in Oxford, Ohio, isn’t a borrowed brand or a coincidental choice. It’s a direct link to the Indigenous people who shaped the region long before settlers arrived, and the university continues honoring that heritage through active partnership rather than passive acknowledgment.
