The AFU and Urban Legend Archive Language Etymology ku klux klan Select a topic - - - - - - - - Home Searches AFU FAQ - - - - - - - - AFU Animals Books Celebrities Classic Collegiate Death Disney Drugs Food GIF Language Legal Medical Misc Movies Politics Products Religion Science Sex Songs TV - - - - - - - - Other sites

From: [Removed because some idiots with half the intelligence of an inbred
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Klever Klan Klatsch
Date: 22 Dec 1994 22:05:36 -0500

As promised in a previous article, I looked in various sources for the orgin of the name "Ku Klux Klan."

The main articles on the KKK in _The Encyclopedia of Southern Culture_ make no statement about the origin of the name. Nor do the aforementioned _America: A Narrative History_ nor _The Emergence of the New South, 1913-1945_ (the latter of which, of course, treats only the revival of the KKK in the 1920s, not the original founding).

The OED and the Encyclopaedia Brittanica say the name is "said to be" or "apparently" from Greek "kyklos", circle.

_The Reader's Companion to American History_, in an article by historian Allen W. Trelease, who is an expert on the Reconstruction period, states unequivocally that the name is "derived from a Greek word for 'circle' or 'band'". The article lists several books in a bibliography for those who are interested further.