Despite the regal-sounding name, crown-based logo and connection to an opulent pop song, the Kansas City Royals actually weren’t named after kings, queens or anything monarchial. The unlikely American League champions were named in 1968 for something for more lavish and grandiose: livestock.

The Kansas City Royals began play in 1969 as an expansion team. The year before, the team held a name-the-team contest that received more than 17,000 entries. Sanford Porte, a bridge engineer from the suburb of Overland Park, was named the winner for his “Royals” entry. His reason had nothing to do with royalty.

“Kansas City’s new baseball team should be called the Royals because of Missouri’s billion-dollar livestock income, Kansas City’s position as the nation’s leading stocker and feeder market and the nationally known American Royal parade and pageant,” Porte wrote.