Etymology is a hobby I like to dabble in. Any ideas where the word hobo came from? The only possibilities I can think of are:

-Homeless Boy - taking the first two letters of each word
-possibly from the illiterati - a bastardization of the word "bohemian"

Not that it matters much but I don't like to leave a word orphaned - can't recall finding a word or phrase that had so little to go on before.

Only theories. No solid answers.

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-hob1.htm

Oy vey. I Remember the word "Hawbuck" meaning something like, I dunno, one of the three stooges... idiot or buffoon? I take it as "hayseed", a gentler word meaning unsophisticated to the point of being quaint like the Clampetts.

Ho, boy! from the old west calling out to someone. Not unlike "Hello!" which came from lumberjacks calling out in the woods "HOLLOW". "Ho, Boy" probably was used instead of bothering to remember a name since so many passed through.

The heyday of hobos was the depression. Fascinating history, but the word just tortures me.