evidence: First, let’s rid ourselves of myths we may have picked up over the internet. Rumor has it that the standard greeting came about because it was the name of Alexander Graham Bell’s girlfriend at the time of patenting the invention. The story goes that she later married the inventor. Would this mean that his wife’s proper name was Hello Bell? Surely not! Others suggest that it was a girlfriend that Alexander Graham Bell was honouring when choosing the go-to phrase for answering a call on the telephone. This girlfriend is said to have been named Margaret Hello. Supposedly, a declaration of love is why we say hello when answering the phone. [...] So the next time someone asks you about the origin of "hello," you can explain to them that it goes all the way back to Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison (and that "ahoy" almost ended up being the de facto greeting).