The NBA's New Orleans Hornets will become the Pelicans, beginning in the 2013-14 North American basketball season.
Team owner Tom Benson says the new name - unveiled complete with a logo of a stylised bird with a fierce glare - is a nod to the pelican's long association with the state of Louisiana, nicknamed "The Pelican State".
The team kept the Hornets nickname when it relocated from Charlotte for the start of the 2002-03 season.
New Orleans previously hosted the Jazz from 1974-79 until the franchise left for Salt Lake City and kept that nickname.
