Thanks, GUEST 08 Jul 08 and all others who have posted to this thread.

In my continuing mission to try to find out where "Stella Ella Ola" and similarly sounding rhymes came from, I discovered several Internet articles/blogs that included stories about how this rhyme and its handclapping game is being shared in Japan, in Africa, and in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

Here's an excerpt of one online report from a 2002 Canadian-Palestinian Educational Exchange [CEPAL} volunteer whose first name happened to be "Stella":

..."The family car trips were a delight, no radio, no bumper, nospeed gage, no windows, however the lack of music wasn't a problem, we sang songs …The pride, the love, the joy of each family were the children,whom came to my classes each day ready to be entertained and learn Inglese, English. I was warned that apparently my name, Stella is what the children call the dogs in the camp. So in effect I had prepared a new name for myself, my first day with the nine year olds at the Women's Humanitarian Organization, I would simply introduce myself as Stel…no barking was the anticipated outcome. —Hello everyone my name is Stel"…blank stares,and then a loud bark from the back of the room to be continued with contagious barking and giggling for the next five minutes. Little did I know that my name Stella was written in Arabic on the chalk board behind me. The giggles and dog remarks subsided….I taught them Stella Ella ola and suddenly my name was cool. Upon returning from a sick day due to sunstroke I was greeted with a standing ovation…I think they were starting to like me"
All About the CampsBy Stella Andonoff, CEPAL Overseas Volunteer

Page 10 Volume 7, Number 1 "All About the Camps" By Stella Andonoff, CEPAL Overseas Volunteer
http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:sg1eWniJTGYJ:www.cepal.ca/uploads/tx_pdforder/the-arch-spring-2003.pdf+stella+ella+ola&hl=e

**

This is one of the reasons why I like searching for information about the sources of children's rhymes. You never know what information you'll learn along the way. As a result of reading this article, I was motivated to look up the Arabic word for "dog". The word kalb is usually given, with the plural of kilaab. Obviously, these words don't sound like "Stella". So, I continued my Internet search, and came across this very interesting article. As a result of reading this article [or at least portions of it], I found that there are 70 different words in Arabic for the word "dog". Apparently one of those words sound like the name "Stella" or maybe that's just what the children in that refugee camp happened to call dogs {I learned that in Arabic speaking countries, dogs are considered unclean animals, so this wasn't an affectionate nickname}.

Btw, I also learned from reading the second article whose link I provided that there are 77 Arabic words for the word "love". And one of those words sounds like my name: "There is izaz, which is the kind of love that gives both lovers power and dignity"...

Furthermore, as a result of my search for information about the rhyme "Stella Ella Ola", by reading that first article I found out about the charitable organization CEPAL

I'd say that's not bad for a morning's Internet search.