“N’erlins” or “Nerlins” for “New Orleans” was popularized by American actor Ryan Gosling, who hosted the New York City-based late-night live television sketch comedy Saturday Night Live on September 20, 2017. Gosling said in his opening monologue:
 
“Jazz was born in New Orleans, or, as it’s correctly pronounced, Nerlins.”
 
The term has been used before. “Trying to think of the worst ways to pronounce ‘New Orleans’. My personal favorite is ‘Nerlins’” was posted on Twitter on May 21, 2011. “It’s nice to finally be here in New Orleans!!!! #Nerlins” was posted on Twitter on July 18, 2012.
   
Other New Orleans nicknames include “America’s Most Interesting City,” “Baghdad-on-the-Bayou,” “Big Crescent,” “Big Easy,” “Big Greasy,” “Big Sleazy,” “Birthplace of Jazz,” “Chocolate City,” “Chopper City,” “City of a Million Dreams,” “City of Yes,” “City That Care Forgot,” “City That Forgot to Care,” “Convention City,” “Crawfish Town,” “Creole City,” “Crescent City,” “Erb City,” “Gateway of the Mississippi Valley,” “Gumbo City,” “Hollywood South,” “Jump City,” “Mardi Gras City,” “Metropolis of the South,” “N’Awlins,” “Necropolis of the South,” “No Orleans” (after Hurricane Katrina), “NOLA,” “Northernmost Banana Republic,” “Northernmost Caribbean City,” “Old Swampy,” “Paris of America,” “Queen City,” “Saint City,” “Silicon Bayou,” “Silicon Swamp” and “Sweet Lady Gumbo.”
     
     
Wikipedia: New Orleans
New Orleans (/nuː ˈɔːrlᵻnz, -ˈɔːrli.ənz, -ɔːrˈliːnz/, or /ˈnɔːrlᵻnz/; French: La Nouvelle-Orléans [la nuvɛlɔʁleɑ̃]) is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The population of the city was 343,829 as of the 2010 U.S. Census. The New Orleans metropolitan area (New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area) had a population of 1,167,764 in 2010 and was the 46th largest in the United States. The New Orleans–Metairie–Bogalusa Combined Statistical Area, a larger trading area, had a 2010 population of 1,452,502.
     
Twitter     
Andre‏
@Atamarav
Trying to think of the worst ways to pronounce “New Orleans”. My personal favorite is “Nerlins”.
9:52 PM - 21 May 2011
     
Twitter
Lukas Gessler‏
@Thee_LukeSter
Our hotel in New Orleans is named the Cotton Inn #irony #Nerlins
2:00 PM - 18 Jul 2012
 
Twitter
kristine‏
@craftykristinee
It’s nice to finally be here in New Orleans!!!! #Nerlins
2:55 PM - 18 Jul 2012
 
Twitter
Josh Munzenrider‏
@Munzilicious
New Orleans. Nerlens. N’awlins. N’erlins. #NBADraft
7:12 PM - 27 Jun 2013
   
Twitter
Rose‏
@Rose3113
Dear NBC, New Orleans is not pronounced Nerlins. Just saying.
10:26 PM - 3 Nov 2014
 
Twitter 
Tim but like, scary?‏
@timtheredmenace
WHEN I COME TO POWER: Nerlins Noel, and in fact any athlete named Nerlins, will automatically play for New Orleans.
12:25 AM - 26 Feb 2017
 
YouTube
Ryan Gosling Jazz Monologue - SNL
Saturday Night Live
Published on Sep 30, 2017
Host Ryan Gosling explains how he saved jazz to Kenan Thompson and Emma Stone.
#SNL #SNLPremiere #SNL43
2:30
RYAN GOSLING: “Jazz was born in New Orleans, or, as it’s correctly pronounced, Nerlins.”
   
Twitter
aaron | אהרון‏
@add9inthetag
SNL’s first monologue starts off great with a New Orleans pronunciation joke. “New OrlEEns. Or as it’s properly pronounced ‘nerlins’.”
10:40 PM - 30 Sep 2017
 
NOLA.com
‘Saturday Night Live’ and Ryan Gosling give New Orleans a new nickname
Updated on October 1, 2017 at 10:11 AM Posted on September 30, 2017 at 11:38 PM
By Mike Scott
NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
(...)
“Jazz was born in New Orleans,” Gosling said, sitting down at a piano to deliver a lesson in that distinctly local art form, before adding: “Or, as it’s correctly pronounced, ‘N’erlins.’”
   
To his credit, Gosling couldn’t keep a straight face before delivering his next equally ridiculous line: “And then from N’erlins, it moved on to ‘Chicagi’ and then ‘NYC City.’”
 
Will “N’erlins” catch on? That remains to be seen. But it sure is fun to say. It was also good for a laugh, at least for one n’erght.
 
NOLA.com
11 New Orleans nicknames: the good, the bad, the silly
Posted October 03, 2017 at 06:00 AM | Updated October 03, 2017 at 06:04 AM
By Melinda Morris, NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune
(...)
N’erlins
The newest New Orleans nickname, presented to us by actor Ryan Gosling and “Saturday Night Live,” is “N’erlins.’’ This silliness was unveiled Sept. 30 on the show, where Gosling was guest host.
 
As NOLA.com TV critic Mike Scott reported, Gosling’s monologue focused on the tongue-in-cheek assertions that he, and his jazz-loving “La La Land” character, single-handedly “saved” jazz.
 
“Jazz was born in New Orleans,” Gosling said, sitting down at a piano on “SNL,’’ before adding: “Or, as it’s correctly pronounced, ‘N’erlins.’”