What is the history behind the name of Fifth Third Bank? 
(http://www.53.com/)  There must be a reason it's been named with a
fraction.

Hi there,

This is from their website, in the Investor Relations section:

"Fifth Third Bank traces its origins to the Bank of the Ohio Valley,
which opened its doors in Cincinnati in 1858. In 1871, the Bank was
purchased by the Third National Bank. With the turn of the century
came the union of the Third National Bank and the Fifth National Bank,
eventually to become known as the Fifth Third Bank. In 1975, Fifth
Third Bancorp was incorporated. Fifth Third Bancorp is comprised of 16
affiliates located in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois,
Florida and West Virginia. The Bancorp, headquartered in Cincinnati,
Ohio, has approximately $75 billion in assets."
http://www.53.com/investor/index.htm

This is from Yahoo News, "Fifth Third Bank Makes May 3 a Day to
Remember":

"Fifth Third President and CEO, Patrick J. Fehring, Jr., and other
employees will also spend the day answering what is perhaps the most
common question from customers and clients of Fifth Third Bank: how
the bank got its name.

'Invariably, one of the first questions new clients and customers ask
us is 'where did you get that name?'" Fehring said. "And we love
telling them that Fifth Third has been around since the turn of the
20th century, when the Fifth National Bank and the Third National
Bank, both located in Ohio, merged to create Fifth Third Bank. Despite
popular belief, Fifth Third was not named because it was located at
the corner of 5th and 3rd streets in Cincinnati.'"
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020501/dew028_2.html

I trust this answers your question. Please feel free to ask for any
clarifications you may require.

Best wishes,
robertskelton-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by robertskelton-ga on 01 Aug 2002 14:49 PDT

Search strategy:

1st quote, just surfed their website.

2nd quote:

1858 "Bank of the Ohio Valley"
://www.google.com/search?as_q=1858&num=30&btnG=Google+Search&as_oq=&as_epq=Bank+of+the+Ohio+Valley&as_eq=&as_occt=any&lr=lang_en&as_dt=i&sitesearch=&safe=off&as_rq=&as_lq=

Thanks, just what I was looking for.

I would also suggest visiting
www.straightdope.com/columns/020118.html.  Cecil Adams, self
proclaimed genius, discusses this topic at length.  Plus, you don't
have to pay 4 bucks to find out about it.