How baseball teams got their nicknames. National League TeamsThe National League, or NL for short, is the older of the two leagues having been formed in 1876. It was created from what was theNational Association of Professional Base Ball Players, and I think the shortened name is way better. The league started with sixteams, but the only original members that survived are the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta Braves who were in Boston at the time. Click on a team below to find out more about the origin of its name.