Dixie

From Dixiepedia: The PC-Free Encyclopedia

Dixie refers to the Old or Deep South, or more generally, those States constituting the Confederate States of America and the Border States that would have likely joined the Confederacy, but this sense did not really come into popular usage until after the War of Northern Aggression.

The usage was obviously energized by the song "Dixie", by composer Daniel Decatur Emmett, which became immensely popular just about the time the war started and became one of the unofficial anthems of the South. The song Lorena was just as popular, if not more so -- on both sides -- and became a popular name for girls.

The origins of the term Dixie itself is obscure, possibly from Mason-Dixon Line, but no competent dictionary will say for sure.

See also Wikipedia article