While watching Georgetown during March Madness this year, the question came about their nickname and “What is a Hoya?” We thought it might be some type of bulldog, but after looking it up, I don’t quite feel so stupid for not knowing what a Hoya actually is. No one really knows.
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Nick Momrik 
The origins of the word “Hoya” defy simple explanation. Over the years, some have claimed it is an Indian word, while those of a legal mind thought it related to the French word oyez, the traditional opening of judicial sessions. Still others held that with Georgetown’s location along a river, Hoya might be an offshoot of the nautical “ahoy”. None of these claims have held water, so to speak.
The official explanation holds that there was a baseball team at Georgetown called the “Stonewalls”. It is suggested that a student, applying Greek and Latin, dubbed the team the “hoia saxa” — hoia is the Greek neuter plural for “what” or “what a”, while saxa is the Latin neuter plural for “rock”. Substituting a “y” for an “i”; “hoya saxa” literally means “what rocks”.
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