Mr. Rilch and I both know that it’s “Hang On, Sloopy”, not “Hang On, Snoopy”. But it occured to us last night, when the song came on the radio, that for all that, we don’t know why this young lady is called “Sloopy”.
Is she affiliated with the “Sloop John B”? That makes some sense: one would, indeed, live in a “very bad part of town” if one’s father is a drunken sailor. It would also explain the name. But that’s a tenuous connection, at best.
Anyone?
The author of this page claims that the song was inspired by a woman named Dorothy Sloop, a 50’s singer who sometimes used the stage name of “Sloopy”.
Admittedly I cannot verify this in any way, and I never thought about the subject until your post prompted some googling on my part, but it doesn’t seem too unreasonable an explanation.
I actually prefer your take on it; let’s hope it turns out to be correct. 
The singer Dorothy Sloop was born on 26 September 1913, the daughter of Frederick and Jane (McGinnis) Sloop. She died (as Dorothy Heflick) on 28 July 1998 while living in Pass Christian, Mississippi.
There’s an obituary of her in International Musician, v. 98, no. 1, July 1999.
Also in The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.), 31 July 1998, p. A7.
I see. Thank you!
something tells me that that explanation is far from the truth.
“Hang on Sloopy” has been declared by the Ohio State Legislature as the Official Rock Song of the State of Ohio. As the proclamation says, “In 1965, an Ohio-based rock group known as the McCoys reached the top of the national record charts with “Hang On Sloopy,” composed by Bert Russell and Wes Farrell . . .”
From an index to the 1930 U.S. census:
Sloop, Dorothy F
Age: 16
Microfilm T626, roll 1824
State: Ohio
County: Jefferson
City: Steubenville
Enumeration District: 36
Page: 7-B
Relationship: Daughter
Father: Fred Sloop
Mother: Jane Sloop
(Another singer from Steubenville: Dean Martin.)
I remember driving through central Ohio circa 1970, and at a gas station I saw a lot of inflated plastic figures for sale that looked exactly like Charles M. Schultz’s character Snoopy from Peanuts. But the sign read “Sloopy dolls for sale.” It looked like they had deliberately misspelled Snoopy’s name, and the only reason for that I could think of was to avoid copyright or trademark infringement.
But when “Hang On Sloopy” was declared the official rock song of Ohio some years ago, the newspaper that it was because the song had long been popular at Ohio State football games. So I guessed the Snoopy figures were on sale for display by fans at Ohio State games, and the Peanuts character had been drafted for use as a sort of visual pun.
From The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio), September 2, 1998, p. 1-B:
oh, i didn’t know that the information was “published”! boy, that puts an end to all controversy!
trying to be less obnoxious, my point is that a song can have a title with a similar name to a person without being ‘inspired’ by that person. hope i didn’t ruffle any feathers. wasn’t meaning to. i was trying to be witty.
At least the legislature didn’t choose “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy” by Ohio Express.