Was Kermit named after a childhood friend of Jim Henson?

A rumor concerning the origin of Kermit the Frog's name is that Jim Henson named the puppet after a childhood friend named Theodore Kermit Scott.Hanrahan, Kathy. "It's easy being green in Leland, Miss.", Associated Press. July 16, 2007.Ferguson, Terri. Man for whom frog was named dies. Delta Democrat Times. 06-14-2008.Leopold, Todd. Hardest-working frog tells all, Kermit the Frog is 50, and celebrating in a big way. CNN. 10-05-2005.Edwards, David. Muppet Exclusive: Kermit at 50. The Daily Mirror. 09-29-2005.Hanrahan, Kathy. Hop on the Kermit bandwagon. The Sunday Telegraph. 08-16-2007.
The earliest reference to the claim comes from an article titled "The Muppets in Movieland" by John Culhane in the June 10, 1979 issue of The New York Times Magazine. Culhane interviewed Henson at the company's Townhouse office: 
Culhane doesn't provide the context in which Scott's name was used by Henson, but when the story was picked up by local newspapers around the country, Scott himself was called upon to comment. In August of that year, he disclosed to Indianapolis News: 
He also confirmed to the paper that he and Henson "were real good friends and knew each other well." In contrast, he told the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Indiana, that he was sure Henson "doesn't remember a lot about me, and I don't remember a heck of a lot about him... The name is unusual and he probably thought it would be a funny name for a frog."Journal and Courier (Lafayette, Indiana) "Kermit the Professor leapfrogs into spotlight" by Larry Schumpert, June 17, 1979
When Henson died in 1990, Scott was interviewed by the Associated Press where he cited the 1979 news article and commented, "I guess I made an impression on him."Associated Press, May 18, 1990
Karen Falk addressed this question in an Ask Henson.com entry:
(The "other Kermit" that Falk is referring to is Kermit Love, who began his career building puppets for Henson in 1965, with Delbert the La Choy Dragon.)
Backing up Falk's take on Henson just liking the sound of the name, Henson himself commented on the moniker in a 1975 Associated Press article about the Kermit puppet having been rebuilt several times: "His looks are much more expressive than they used to be. When I first made him, it struck me that he looked like a Kermit. So that's what I named him."Robert L. Rose of Chicago Daily Times, distributed to several newspapers in April 1975
==Other claims==
In his 1994 obituary, it was reported by a colleague that a man named Kermit Kalman Cohen had been telling friends and family for years that he was the inspiration for the name of the Muppet character. Cohen claimed that the moment came during a tour of the WBAL studios in Baltimore, Maryland; Henson allegedly heard the man's name, snapped his fingers, turned to his wife Jane, and said, "That's what we call the frog -- Kermit." The story was endorsed by Cohen's sister, Bernice Burkett, who added that it was something he considered his claim to fame, and that his extended family were proud of telling people they knew that Kermit the Frog was named after him.The Baltimore Sun "Kermit Kalman Cohen, 71, gave Muppet frog his name" by Karen Zeiler, Sep 26, 1994
==See also==
* When did Kermit become a frog?
* When is Kermit's birthday?
* Does Jim Henson's son perform Kermit the Frog?
==Sources==
__NOWYSIWYG__
Category:Rumors