The Spanish flu is named for the country that told the truth about it. Spain was one of the few major European countries to stay neutral in the First World War, and its newspapers were free to report the disease.
The countries at war were not. Censors on both sides kept flu news quiet to protect morale. American, French and German papers were reluctant to cover the illness at all.
In late May 1918, the sickness made headlines in Madrid. About a week later King Alfonso XIII fell ill, and coverage grew. Readers elsewhere suddenly had detailed accounts from Spain and almost nothing from home. Many concluded that Spain must be where it started.
The name stuck fast. According to Science Friday, the Times of London used "Spanish flu" in an editorial. In the United States and Europe it also went by the "Spanish Lady."
Spaniards had their own theory. Believing the virus had come from France, they called it the French flu. Historian Catharine Arnold notes another Spanish nickname, the "Naples Soldier," borrowed from a popular musical of the day.
Nobody knows for certain where the pandemic began. France, China, Britain and the United States have all been proposed. History.com notes that the first known case was reported at a military base in Kansas on 11 March 1918, months before Spain's coverage. What researchers mostly agree on is the negative: it is unlikely to have begun in Spain.
The disease itself was devastating. Over about eighteen months it infected as much as 40 percent of the world's population. History.com puts the death toll at 50 million or more, well above the roughly 17 million killed in the war itself. Other estimates run from about 17 million to over 100 million.
The word influenza has its own odd story. It is Italian for "influence," and Etymonline explains that it reflected the old belief that epidemics were caused by the stars. English borrowed it in 1743, during an outbreak that began in Italy.
So both halves of the name point the wrong way. "Spanish" blames the messenger, and "flu" blames the sky.