How the Cleveland Indians became the Cleveland Guardians

The Cleveland baseball team's announcement of a name change from Indians to Guardians at the end of the season followed several years of uniform alterations and discussions.

The announcement came roughly a year after the team announced that it was considering a name change and six months after committing to doing so.

The team said it would change its name amid controversy and complaints from Native American groups and Major League Baseball. 

Team owner Paul Dolan said last summer's social unrest, touched off by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, spurred his intention to change the name.

According to mlb.com, there are records of Cleveland baseball dating back to 1869 as the Forest Citys and Blue Stockings. The team became the Spiders in 1889 for 10 years before changing its name again and was later known as the Babes, Buckeyes, Clevelands and Bronchos before becoming the Naps in 1903 and the Indians in 1915 to honor former player Louis Sockalexis. He was was the first Native American in professional baseball.

Cleveland Indians:Why we’ve stopped using Cleveland’s baseball nickname

Here is a history of the team's name change.

Cleveland baseball team dropped the Chief Wahoo logo before 2019

The Indians dropped the Chief Wahoo logo from their uniforms and from view of the playing field before the 2019 season, though they retained the trademark and rights to the logo in part to disallow others to use it on a larger scale.

A 'thorough review' started last July 

In July, the team announced that a "thorough review" would be held regarding the team name, an indication that the team name would change. This shortly followed Washington's NFL team announcement that its team would change its name to the Washington Football Team.

At the time, the team announced that 1,100 names had been considered during the process, which including the surveying of 40,000 fans, along with community leaders.

In December, Cleveland's baseball team said they would change its name 

Last December, the team announced it would change the name of the franchise.

No specific timeline was announced, but team owner Paul Dolan said earlier this season that he didn't expect a name change before the end of this year.

In June, the team announced it had a final list of names from the initial list it was considering.

Akron Beacon Journal reporter Ryan Lewis, USA TODAY and the Associated Press contributed to this story