The team’s name includes “Knights” as a homage to the Black Knights of the United States Military Academy, Foley’s alma mater, and because knights were, according to Foley, “the epitome of the warrior class”. Foley had hoped to name his team the Black Knights, but dropped that plan after encountering resistance from federal officials. Foley was unable to call the team the “Vegas Knights” due to the London Knights owning the “Knights” name in Canada.

“Golden” was included in the name because gold is, as Foley stated, the “No. 1 precious metal”, and because Nevada is the largest gold-producing state in the country.

“Las” was omitted from the team’s name because, according to Foley, residents tend to refer to the city simply as “Vegas”, and because a four-word name would have been too long.

The United States Army initially expressed concern after the Golden Knights’ name was announced, because their parachute team uses the same nickname. The Army later disputed the trademark and colors of the team during its first season, to which the team responded: “We are not aware of a single complaint from anyone attending our games that they were expecting to see the parachute team and not a professional hockey game.” An objection was also raised by the College of Saint Rose because its sports teams use the same name; the Vegas team’s initial trademark application was denied as a result, but was later approved on appeal. The team did clear the name with Clarkson University, which also uses the name Golden Knights.