[Fiji Hill]

You might think that Wisconsin is the "Badger State" because these cute little guys are found in Wisconsin. Actually, the reference has to do with the rush of lead miners in our state during the early 19th century. Men came to Wisconsin to mine, and rather than build structures, they would actually burrow into the hillsides. That's kind of what badgers do, so the name stuck.

Not all of the miners stayed for the winter. Those who moved south to Illinois came to be known as suckers, after a migratory freshwater fish, a name that came to be applied to all Illinoisans. And that was not an insult--one of Illinois' nicknames is The Sucker State.

[Western Phil]

Same fish, different story in east central Illinois: The “Suckers” were people from Indiana who came to Illinois to vote and then returned to Indiana.