Bad News for Nerds: The Term Fanboy Started with Jocks!  Babe
Ruth Baseball Fan from the 60s  Having grown up with nerdy
things like science fiction, comics and videogames I hate to
admit it but the origins of the word “fanboy” come out of the
sports world! The term fan derives from the word fanatic — and
fanatic of course has the tradition meaning of “marked by
excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion”
(i.e. batshit crazy). However in 19th century America the term
was more loving ascribed to folks who loved baseball:   Editor’s
Note: This admission in no way condones jocks, frat boys or
those who would take the side of Fonzie over Richie Cunningham.
But Yes the Term Fanboy was Popularized Thanks to Comic Books
Fans  Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons  Comic Book Guy from the
Simpsons  The term “fanboy” as far as we know goes back to at
leas the 1950s — the earliest source is the book Learning to
Write by Reed Smith, Bill Paxton, William Paxton, and Basil G.
Meserve:  “[the] chief co-ordinati