What was the original name of The New York Times at its founding?

1. How a modest name set an editorial promise — the New-York Daily Times at birth

Contemporary histories and reference works consistently record that the paper first appeared under the name New-York Daily Times on September 18, 1851, and that founders Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones deliberately chose that title to signal a commitment to measured, dignified reporting in contrast to the era’s penny presses and sensational tabloids. This origin detail appears in comprehensive histories of the period and encyclopedic summaries that focus on the paper’s founding mission and its inaugural masthead language ^{[1] [2]}. The inclusion of “Daily” on the masthead emphasized regular publication frequency, while the hyphenated “New-York” reflected contemporaneous orthography; together the elements communicated an identity intended to be both civic-minded and reliably produced in the burgeoning media market of mid-19th century New York ^[2].

2. Name changes and punctuation: how the title evolved in the 19th century

Multiple accounts note that the newspaper’s name did not remain static: the original New-York Daily Times label was shortened over time, with the paper dropping “Daily” and later adjusting punctuation. Sources indicate a significant change in 1857 when the paper’s masthead moved toward The New-York Times, and a later refinement occurred under Adolph Simon Ochs’s ownership when the paper standardized the modern form The New York Times by removing the hyphen in the late 19th century. These shifts reflect evolving branding practices and editorial positioning as the organization moved from a fledgling daily into a leading metropolitan and national institution ^{[4] [1]}. The pattern of removal—first of “Daily,” later of the hyphen—mirrors a broader trend of publication titles simplifying as readership expanded and the paper sought a national rather than merely municipal identity ^{[5] [1]}.

3. What primary sources and modern histories actually report

Primary first-edition reproductions and subsequent historical summaries corroborate the founding masthead as New-York Daily Times and list September 18, 1851 as the first issue date. Overviews by historical compendia and detailed institutional histories reiterate the founders’ identities, the masthead’s wording, and the reasons for the initial branding choice—emphasizing trustworthy journalism and regular daily issuance. Modern syntheses and encyclopedias echo these facts, with variations only in how they describe the timing of specific punctuation and word removals: some sources concentrate on the 1857 dropping of “Daily,” while others highlight the later hyphen removal under Ochs ^{[3] [6] [7]}. This convergence suggests the core claim—initial name New-York Daily Times—is well-established across reference materials ^{[1] [2]}.

4. Diverging emphases and what to watch for in secondary accounts

Where sources differ is in emphasis and dating of the intermediate changes; some accounts emphasize the 1857 transition away from “Daily,” others stress Ochs’s 1896-era standardization of the title into the modern The New York Times. These differences arise from editorial framing—histories focused on branding look for masthead changes, while institutional narratives highlight ownership and editorial philosophy shifts. Readers should note that various summaries sometimes use slightly different punctuation when quoting historic mastheads (hyphenated versus unhyphenated “New York”), and that summaries with sparser citation may compress complex changes into a single sentence. Cross-checking masthead reproductions of first issues and authoritative institutional histories clarifies these sequencing details ^{[4] [1] [7]}.

5. Bottom line: the verified original name and its meaning for the paper’s identity

The verified original name at founding is New-York Daily Times, dating to September 18, 1851 and tied to founders Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones. The title expressed a dual promise of daily publication and measured journalism in a crowded market, and later removals of “Daily” and hyphenation reflect the paper’s evolution into a national institution and a streamlined brand. Contemporary histories and reference entries consistently support this reading, while noting the incremental nature of the masthead changes as the organization matured through the latter half of the 19th century ^{[1] [2] [5]}.