So for those who are interested, I'll post some details of the early names.
(I have a complete list of all chapters chartered by Kappa Delta, their locations, and their years, but for some reason it was considered unwise to post it on GC, so I won't post it but rather just lay out the basics that I know. I definitely don't have the whole story though, as you'll see.)
Alpha,
Beta and
Gamma are clearly alphabetical. Then came:
Sigma (1902) - I have no idea why -- wild guess would be because it was installed by
Susie
Scott, National Treasurer at the time.
Theta (1903) - Again, no idea why.
Epsilon Prime (1903) - Possibly an attempt to get back to an alphabetical naming system? Also possibly named for it's location at
Elizabeth College. Regardless, this chapter only existed for one year, sub rosa, before Kappa Delta determined that sub rosa chapters were not a good idea. (Not to be confused with Epsilon chapter at LSU chartered 6 years later.)
Starting in late 1903, a lot of chapters were named for the local sororities that petitioned Kappa Delta for a charter. This was the norm back then (for a local to select one particular national sorority with which they wanted to affiliate.)
Phi Psi (1903) - The local sorority was named Mu Phi Psi.
Zeta (1904) - Perhaps an attempt to return to alphabetic naming after Epsilon Prime?
Phi Delta (1904) - The local sorority's name.
Kappa Alpha (1904) - Named in honor of KA fraternity.
Rho Omega Phi (1904) - The local sorority was named R. O. F. Society.
Delta (1905) - Wild guess would be because a KD from Phi
Delta chapter assisted in getting the group together to petition KD, then participated in the installation.
Iota (1907) - no clue
Lambda (1907) - Named in honor of William C. Levere of SAE for his assistance in Kappa Delta's expansion in the North.
Omicron (1908) - no clue
Sigma Sigma (1908) - The local sorority's name.
Epsilon (1909) - no clue
Epsilon Omega (1910) - The local sorority, originally named Black Cats, changed their name to Epsilon Omega Delta.
Alpha Gamma (1911) - The local sorority's name.
Sigma Delta (1912) - The local sorority's name.
Kappa (1913) - My only guess is because the local was named Kappa Lambda.
Omega Xi (1913) - I have no idea, but I'm very curious. Such an unusual name had to come from somewhere. Maybe Kaydee_cutie knows since that's her chapter.
Eta (1913) - Either from the name of the local, Eta Pi, or the location, Hunter College.
Chi (1914) - no clue
Rho (1914) - The local sorority was named Sigma Rho.
Mu (1914) - The local sorority was named Kappa Mu.
Phi Tau (1915) - The local sorority was named Phi Epsilon Tau.
Phi Epsilon (1916) - The local sorority's name.
Sigma Alpha (1916) - The local sorority's name.
Omega Chi (1917) - The local sorority's name.
Theta Sigma (1917) - another stumper - the local was called Nous Soeurs Club - there must be a good reason for this chapter's unusual name.
Phi (1917) - no clue (the local sorority was named Copo de Oro)
Sigma Beta (1918) - The local sorority's name.
Psi (1918) - no clue (doesn't match local's name)
Nu (1919) - no clue (doesn't match local's name)
Xi (1920) - no clue (doesn't match local's name) - perhaps Dani would know since this is her chapter.
Pi (1920) - no clue
Tau (1920) - This one has a little story. Four Kappa Deltas from Psi chapter transferred to the University of Wisconsin. One of them, Elsie Taylor, worked to get a local group together to petition KD for a charter. They named the local Tau Kappa Delta (Tau for Elsie Taylor + Kappa Delta for their goal.)
Upsilon (1920) - Just a guess but the local was named Kappa Phi
Upsilon.
Now we go into a stage where double letters starting with Sigma were chosen. *Ta kala explains why in a post below.* This begins the first real attempt to go alphabetically with some minor exceptions.
Sigma Alpha and Sigma Beta had already been assigned to chapters so it begins with:
Sigma Gamma (1920)
Sigma Delta was already assigned to a chapter so it was skipped.
Sigma Epsilon (1921) - Although it does fit alphabetically, it's noted that the Epsilon part of this chapter's name was given in honor of Eliza Winn, of Sigma Alpha chapter, who was then a student at UT and assisted in selecting members for the new chapter.
Sigma Zeta (1921) - Again, this one fits alphabetically but there's more. It's noted that a Kappa Delta named Katherine Farrah, of Zeta chapter, transferred to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and joined a group named Caryatides. She pushed for them to petition KD for a charter, which was granted. Whether the Zeta in the chapter's name is for Katherine's Zeta chapter background or it's simply there alphabetically is, as the history books say, up to "the gods of chance."
The next 10 chapters were named alphabetically; Sigma Eta through Sigma Pi. Then it goes out of sequence to:
Sigma Tau (1923) - It's possible that the Tau was given in honor of the local which was called Tonora.
Sigma Rho (1923) - get's us back on track alphabetically, however, it is also the name of the local.
Sigma Sigma was already assigned so it skips to:
Sigma Upsilon (1923) - which brings us back to alphabetical naming.
Sigma Phi (1924)
Sigma Chi (1924) - This one is alphabetical but it's also noted that the local was named Delta
Sigma Chi. Here I have a hunch that local groups with an interest in Kappa Delta started naming themselves after the next available chapter name. (Which would apply to Sigma Rho as well.) It's just a hunch though.
And the double letter Sigmas come to an end with Sigma Omega.
Starting with Michigan State in 1924, the chapters are named strictly alphabetically beginning with Alpha Alpha continuing until the present. (The only exception is Alpha Gamma which had already been assigned back in 1911.)
I have a feeling that I'm missing a couple of things. I distictly remember one chapter being named after a prominent Kappa Delta. I also think that one chapter later on in the alphabet is skipped but I'm not sure why.
Anyway, that's as much as I know about the naming of our chapters. If anyone knows the answers to my many "no clue"s or can shed some light on the many mysteries, please chime in! I'd love to find out more.
AOT,
Leslie Anne