I recently showed a few friends around Chicago, and as we passed by the Art Institute and the two lions guarding the entrance, I wondered if they had names like the lion sculptures outside the New York Public Library.

Those lions are named Patience and Fortitude, and were modeled by Edward Clark Potter in time for the library’s dedication in 1911.

New York’s lions have had several nicknames throughout their lives, but received their current names from Mayor LaGuardia in the 1930s based on the qualities he thought New Yorkers would need to have to survive the depression.

So what about the lions in the second city? Strangely enough, they were also created by a sculptor named Edward.

Edward Kemeys didn’t names to these lions, which took their places in 1894, but did assign them unofficial designations based on their poses. The lion on the north pedestal is “on the prowl,” while the one to the south is “in an attitude of defiance.”

We don’t seem to assign names to the objects around us as much as we used to, but I think it’s an important part of creating meaning and connecting to our environment and our history.

Next time you’re in downtown Chicago, don’t forget to say hi to Prowl and Defiance.