So why the name "Mormons?"

When someone tells you, "I'm a Mormon," what runs through your mind?  Many have heard the term before, while some have not.  "Mormon" is a nickname, and one that I, as an individual member gladly accept (I will go into the why of this in bit).  The official name of our church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; perhaps in another post I will go into the meaning behind the name, but for today's post suffice it to say that it has sacred meaning to us, and we are encouraged to use the full name when referring to the actual Church itself.  However it is perfectly acceptable to refer to an individual member as "a Mormon."
Over the course of this blog I hope to answer many of the questions about who we are and what we believe, but for now I'll focus on the origin and meaning of the name "Mormon."
At the same time as many of the stories in the Bible took place in Israel, another group of God's children, living in the Americas, spoke with God and recorded His teachings and direction.  Their history covers over 1,000 years.  Sometimes they followed God and were blessed, and sometimes they didn't and lost His protection.  Finally, around A.D. 400, they were destroyed by their enemies after rejecting God's protecting help. 
A righteous man and a devoted believer of Christ, named Mormon, spent his life gathering, protecting, and compiling the teachings of Christ to them.  These were then hidden to keep them safe, and centuries later God directed another man, Joseph Smith, to find, translate, and publish this record as an additional witness of Christ's Divinity and role as the only source of salvation.  This record is called The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.  People who heard of our church in connection with this newly revealed book of scripture took to calling us "Mormons."  While some may use the term with derision, for me it serves as a reminder of the need to follow Christ, no matter what.
Mormon's role in giving us more knowledge from heaven gives us great respect for him as man of God, and so we welcome association with him.  I admire him as a man who gave his all for the word of God, and who made it possible for me to deepen my trust, belief, and faith in Jesus Christ.

For more on the meaning and use of the term, visit http://www.mormon.org/faq/why-mormons