Michigander (mish-uh-GAN-der) is a demonym for residents of the State of Michigan. It coexists with Michiganian (mish-uh-GAIN-ee-un) and Michiganer, and various Michigan residents may prefer one or the other. Michigander was originally pejorative, but has since lost much of its negative connotation. Some use Michigander to indicate any resident of Michigan, but Michiganian to indicate an alumn of the University of Michigan.

Origin

The word Michigander is attributed to Abraham Lincoln, coined when he was a Whig representative in Congress. On July 27, 1848, Lincoln made a speech against Lewis Cass, who had been the governor of the Michigan Territory. Cass was then running for president on a "popular sovereignty" platform that would have let states conquered in the Mexican War decide whether or not to legalize slavery. Lincoln accused the Democrats of campaigning on the former President Andrew Jackson's coattails by playing up their own their military accomplishments.

But in my hurry I was very near closing on the subject of military tails before I was done with it. There is one entire article of the sort I have not discussed yet; I mean the military tail you Democrats are now engaged in dovetailing onto the great Michigander [i.e. Lewis Cass].

Lincoln thus combined Michigan with gander to form a nickname that made Cass sound foolish like a goose. Nevertheless many Michigan residents preferred the sound of Michigander (which more closely parallels the pronunciation of Michigan) to Michiganian, and the word remains popular to this day.