Hello facts for kids

The greeting "Hello" became linked to telephones in the late 1800s. This postcard is from around 1905–1915.

Hello is a common salutation or greeting we use every day in English. It's a friendly way to say hi to someone! The word "hello" first appeared in writing way back in 1826.

When Did We Start Saying Hello?

The word "hello" was first seen in print in the United States. One of its earliest appearances was in a newspaper called the Norwich Courier in Norwich, Connecticut, on October 18, 1826. It also showed up in an American book in 1833. By the 1860s, "hello" was being used a lot in books and stories.

Where Did Hello Come From?

The Oxford English Dictionary says that "hello" came from older words like "hallo" and "hollo." These words came from an old German word that was shouted to get someone's attention, like a ferryman. It might also be connected to the French word holà, which means something like 'whoa there!' Because of its history, "hello" can sometimes be spelled with different vowels, like "hallo" or "hullo."

Hello and the Telephone

Before telephones, people often greeted each other with phrases like "good morning." But when telephones started connecting people in different time zones, a greeting that didn't depend on the time of day became popular.

Thomas Edison is often given credit for making "hello" a popular telephone greeting. Before this, "hullo" was used to show surprise, and "halloo" was shouted to get a ferry boat. In 1877, when Edison first recorded sound, he reportedly yelled "halloo" into his machine!

Interestingly, Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone, used to answer calls by saying "ahoy ahoy!" This was a term used on ships. But it didn't really catch on.

Edison suggested "Hello!" on August 15, 1877. He wrote a letter to a telephone company president, saying:

Friend David, I do not think we shall need a call bell as Hello! can be heard 10 to 20 feet away.
What you think? Edison – P.S. first cost of sender & receiver to manufacture is only $7.00.

By 1889, the women who worked as telephone operators were known as "hello-girls. This shows how strongly the word "hello" was linked to the telephone.

Other Ways to Spell Hello

"Hello" might have come from an older spelling, "hullo." The American Merriam-Webster dictionary says "hullo" is mainly a British way to say "hello." It was first used to get attention, show surprise, or as a greeting. "Hullo" has been around since at least 1803 and is still used today.

Another idea is that "hello" came from the word "hallo" (from the 1840s), which came from "hollo." "Hollo" meant to shout, and it was often used in fox hunts when the animal was spotted. Even William Shakespeare used a form of this word in his play Coriolanus.

The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge also used "hollo" in his famous poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in 1798.

In many Germanic languages, like German, Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, and Afrikaans, the word "hallo" means "hello."

The "Hello, World!" Computer Program

If you ever learn a new computer programming language, you'll probably start by writing a "Hello, World!" program. This is a very simple program that just shows the message "Hello, World!" on the screen.

This tradition has been around since the very first computer programs. It became even more famous when it was used in a popular book called The C Programming Language by Kernighan & Ritchie. The example came from a note written in 1974 by Brian Kernighan at Bell Laboratories.

See also

• Aloha
• As-salamu alaykum
• Ciao
• Kia ora
• Namaste
• Shalom
• World Hello Day