Tar Heel

Meanings

Noun

• Synonym of North Carolinian.
• A person associated with or supportive of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Proper Noun

• small town Bladen County (county) North Carolina (state).
• (unincorporated) community Hickman County (county) Kentucky (state).

Origin

• North Carolina was associated with tar (of which it was a major producer) from the 1700s onwards, and residents were (at first derisively) called "Tarboilers" since at least the 1840s; "Tar Heel" is first attested in 1863 in comments by Confederate soldiers which suggest it was already in common use at that time. One popular theory suggests it refers to North Carolinians having tar on their heels to make them "stick", referring either to their reluctance to join the Confederacy, or to their holding ground during battles when other states' troops retreated.