San Francisco Stockton Regional Airport.

That’s what more than a few people back in 2017 wanted to rename Stockton Metropolitan Airport.

It triggered mostly dismissive remarks and laughs from newspaper pundits around the Bay Area.

San Francisco officials applied pressure to nip in the bud what they called a “ridiculous” and “misleading” name change.

The idea was prompted by a desire to attract business, increase the awareness of the airport’s proximity to the Bay Area, and promote regionalism.

In a nutshell, it was to make people aware of Stockton Metro’s location given most people across the country know where San Francisco is but relatively few do Stockton.

That wasn’t the case in 2008 to 2013 when Stockton became ground zero in the mortgage meltdown crisis triggered by liar loans. It reached its pinnacle of notoriety in June 2012 when Stockton became the largest city in the United States to ever file bankruptcy.

The name was also justified by pointing to the growing economic-housing-distribution center interconnection San Joaquin County has when it comes to the San Francisco Bay Area.

The idea of the name change was dropped a few months later.

Seven years later, when Oakland International proposed a name change to San Francisco Oakland International Airport, no one in positions of civic power in San Francisco were laughing.

They decreed the Port of Oakland, that manages the airport, was treading on thin ice. When Oakland didn’t back off, San Francisco sued.

Fast forward to this week.

The two airports settled a two-year legal fight.

Oakland will now be allowed to include San Francisco in its airport’s name.

The settlement allows its airport to be called “Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport” with the caveat they can no longer use the word “international” in its name.

Perhaps San Joaquin County, the owners of the Stockton Metro Airport, might want to give “Stockton Greater San Francisco Bay Area Airport” a try.

Such wording might just pass the litmus test with the folks in San Francisco.

Of course, they might argue that would confuse people.

Probably no more than booking a room at San Francisco/Manteca Great Wolf just 8.3 miles down Airport Way from Stockton Metro Airport. How confusing is that?

No more confusing than the San Francisco Outlets being in Livermore 44 miles from San Francisco.

By the way, Manteca is 76 miles away from San Francisco.

Want to wager the Golden Gate Bridge that someone not familiar with Northern California that books a room at Great Wolf is going to think they have a room overlooking Union Square and that the Manteca Transit bus headed down Daniels Street is actually a cable car climbing halfway to the stars?

It should be clear that Great Wolf is using San Francisco in the name of its Manteca resort to make sure people know how close it is to the Bay Area.

Great Wolf’s other California resort is in Garden Grove, but its website proclaims it is in Anaheim.

Garden Grove does not even get second billing although its taxpayers— unlike Manteca that simply gave up part of its hotel room receipt taxes for 25 years to land the resort — are on the hook for bonds if the resort implodes financially.

It should also be noted there are a lot of major airports in this country that are not within the jurisdiction that owns them including San Francisco International that is in unincorporated portion of San Mateo County.

Oakland by referring to the San Francisco Bay instead of San Francisco per se is not appropriating “The City’s” good name.

Nor would Stockton Airport if it were to reference the Greater San Francisco Bay Area in its name.

It is understandable why Great Wolf markets its resort as San Francisco/Manteca.

But in a way San Jose/Manteca would make more sense as would Silicon Valley/Manteca.

Indoor water parks or outlet stores are not airports.

More people know about San Francisco than Oakland.

More people know about Anaheim than Garden Grove.

Stockton may not be a household name, but give it time.

The airport has a promising future.

It is well-situated to help an up and coming region grow.

The San Joaquin Valley may not have as deep of a worldwide name recognition as San Francisco, but it still has creed.

And the airport can play a key role in transforming the north portion of the valley.

Northern San Joaquin Valley Stockton Airport is a mouthful.

But it is coming into its own as a region that is a multi-faceted economic force building in on its strong agricultural roots.

That said, a case could still be made for Stockton Greater San Francisco Bay Area Airport now that Oakland has swung the door open wide.