# Superman question
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 29, 2013, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098 "2013-11-29T21:33:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2013, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098/1 "2013-11-29T21:33:27Z")
I’m not any great expert on Superman. I’ve only ever read a handful of comics. But the following question just occurred to me.
Point 1, his birth name is Kal-El, and his fathwer is Jor-El. His family or house name is El, right?
Point 2, many of his friends and enemies have the initials L.L. such as Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and many others.
So I was wondering, does Superman have a relative named El-El? I’ve not encountered such in my limited reading, and can’t find anything on Google.
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### Author:  [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098/2 "2013-11-29T22:35:32Z")
1. Right. The “S” on his chest is the family crest. 2. Nope.
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### Author:  [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2013, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098/3 "2013-11-29T22:50:58Z")
The Kryptonian LL in his life is his mother - Lara Lor-Van. (Lor-Van being Lara’s father. Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, similarly.)
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### Author:  [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098/4 "2013-11-29T22:55:17Z")
Oh, and there are a few clever names in the El family tree…
Off the top of my head…
Kru-El, a villainous ancestor.
Seyg-El, one of the names given for Jor-El’s father.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098/5 "2013-11-29T22:57:15Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#):
>
> His family or house name is El, right?
Keep in mind the two guys that created Superman were Jewish.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2013, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098/6 "2013-11-29T23:14:29Z")
Well, the character’s original name was “Kal-L”, which I guess was Siegel and Shuster’s reference to other sci-fi works of the time where people in futuristic societies had zippy names like “Jordan-6” or whatever. The minor alteration to “El” (and the family histories in which an ancestor of Superman’s takes the name “El”, meaning “star”) came much later on, and the Superman “S” symbol being of Kryptonian origin started with the 1978 film.
In one 1960 story where Superman gets tossed back in time to land on Krypton a few years before his birth and the planet’s destruction, he romances an actress named Lyla Lerrol.
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### Author:  [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098/7 "2013-11-30T00:30:46Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#):
>
> The “S” on his chest is the family crest.
Depends on the story. In some it’s just an S for Superman.
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### Author:  [@NeonMadman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeonMadman)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098/8 "2013-11-30T03:14:12Z")
Lots of “L.L’s,” but no Kryptonian “El-El” that I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been reading Superman comics pretty consistently for well over 50 years. It’s probably just as well that Mort Weisinger never thought of that, since it would have undoubtedly made a silly story.
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098/9 "2013-11-30T22:00:41Z")
I remember a Silver Age Superman story in which he received a box which could supposedly tell the future when you asked it a question. It always gave the same answer: “LL”. Those were always the correct initials, however. One person asked who would save Superman’s life that day, if he was in danger. “LL” was the answer again.
Big surprise: Superman was exposed to kryptonite. He figured that one of the many people he knew with those initials would save him, but none of them did. Then a kid spotted him and closed the lead box containing the kryptonite, saving his life. Superman asked his name, and the boy said, “Steven Snappin.” Huh? Then Superman figured it out…
The kid was a Little Leaguer.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098/10 "2013-11-30T22:09:36Z")
The “same first & last initials” trope is fairly common throughout the age, although there may have been a few too many L.L.'s in the Superman story:
Peter Parker
J. Jonah Jameson (trifecta!)
Wonder Woman
etc.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2013, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098/11 "2013-11-30T22:13:15Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#):
>
> The “same first & last initials” trope is fairly common throughout the age, although there may have been a few too many L.L.'s in the Superman story:
>
> Peter Parker
> J. Jonah Jameson (trifecta!)
> Wonder Woman
> etc.
Clark Kent, too, at least euphoniously.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098/12 "2013-12-01T00:21:38Z")
Actually in early strips, Superman’s father was given as “Jor-L.” It was later reconned as being the father of the Earth-2 Superman.
As for “LL,” Lois Lane was there from the first appearance. “Luthor” was the next to appear – but he originally had no first name.
In the 50s “LL,” began to proliferate. “Lana Lang” came next, probably because she was seen as the Superboy version of Lois Lane. Lori Lemaris was probably the next – again, another love interest for Superman/Clark Kent. By that time, the writers uses the “LL” theme whenever they could get away with it.
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### Author:  [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098/13 "2013-12-01T00:38:07Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#):
>
> I remember a Silver Age Superman story in which he received a box which could supposedly tell the future when you asked it a question. It always gave the same answer: “LL”. Those were always the correct initials, however. One person asked who would save Superman’s life that day, if he was in danger. “LL” was the answer again.
By gahd, you’ve quoted the one Superman story I recall reading…
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098/14 "2013-12-01T00:43:14Z")
> [@NeonMadman](#):
>
> Lots of “L.L’s,” but no Kryptonian “El-El” that I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been reading Superman comics pretty consistently for well over 50 years. It’s probably just as well that Mort Weisinger never thought of that, since it would have undoubtedly made a silly story.
_“The Further Adventures Of Cool Jay.”_
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### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2013, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098/15 "2013-12-01T01:08:45Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#):
>
> Kru-El, a villainous ancestor.
> Seyg-El, one of the names given for Jor-El’s father.
When I was reading Superman (mid-‘60s), the letters page would include readers’ contributions of punny Superman family names, like Gav-El the judge, or Tow-El the locker room attendant.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098/16 "2013-12-01T01:31:50Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#):
>
> Seyg-El, one of the names given for Jor-El’s father.
I’m not sure I get this one, unless Superman has a crazy racist grandfather.
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2013, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098/17 "2013-12-01T01:40:17Z")
> [@Miller](#):
>
> I’m not sure I get this one, unless Superman has a crazy racist grandfather.
The writer who created Superman (with artist Joe Shuster) was Jerry Siegel.
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2013, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098/18 "2013-12-01T02:10:02Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#):
>
> The “same first & last initials” trope is fairly common throughout the age, although there may have been a few too many L.L.'s in the Superman story:
>
> Peter Parker
> J. Jonah Jameson (trifecta!)
> Wonder Woman
> etc.
That’s the reason given for calling the Incredible hulk’s alter-ego David Banner instead of Bruce in the live-action TV show (even though Bruce really is his middle name, Robert Bruce Banner in the comic books). Kenneth Johnson wanted the series to be taken more seriously, so he removed what he perceived as a staple of comic books, that is, major characters having alliterative names such as Bruce Banner, Peter Parker, and Reed Richards.
> **[The Incredible Hulk (1978 TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Hulk_(1978_TV_series)#Development)**
>
> The Incredible Hulk is an American television series based on the Marvel Comics character the Hulk. The series aired on the CBS television network and starred Bill Bixby as Dr. David Banner, Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk, and Jack Colvin as Jack McGee.
> In the series, Dr. David Banner, a widowed physician and scientist who is presumed dead, travels across the United States under assumed names and finds himself in positions where he helps others in need despite his terrible secret: Following an accid...
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### Author:  [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2013, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098/19 "2013-12-01T02:23:11Z")
And Lois’s sister, Lucy Lane. Supergirl’s secret ID: Linda Lee. Lex Luthor’s sister Lena Luthor.
Lyma Lynai, Superwoman. Oh, and Letitia Lerner, Superman’s babysitter.
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2013, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-question/675098/20 "2013-12-01T02:26:41Z")
I thought it was to distance it from the campy Batman TV show, whose hero was also called Bruce.
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