It's tempting to move this thread to the "folklore" category. I think snopes.com is one of the most interesting folklore resources on the Internet. I always wondered about the name of the Website, but never got around to looking it up. Somebody above linked to the snopes.com FAQ and that gave the answer:

Snopes is the name of a family of characters who appear throughout the works of American writer William Faulkner

But what does Faulkner have to do with urban legend?

I suppose the best-known writer on the subject of urban legend is folklore professor Jan Brunvand. Brunvand has the academic credentials, and his books are fascinating (and they also sell very well); but I often think snopes.com does just as good a job.

-Joe Offer-