The King of Rock and Roll’s tombstone may have fans asking the question, what is Elvis Presley’s middle name.
Elvis Presley died in August of 1977 due to a heart attack when he was only 42 years old.
He was initially buried inside a mausoleum in Forest Hills Cemetery in Memphis. But, after his resting place was continuously tampered with by fans and souvenir seekers alike, he was relocated. Elvis Presley and his mother, Gladys, were moved to Graceland. Now, the graves are part of the Memphis estate’s tour, which 600,000 people visit every year.
Elvis Aron Presley or Elvis Aaron Presley?
The question remains, though, how do you spell Elvis Presley’s middle name?
On his copper tombstone, it reads, “Elvis Aaron Presley,” but the artist usually spelled it with a single “a,” like Aron.
Some fans speculate that this is a clue that Presley is still alive.
Since he died over four decades ago and would be 86, we find this highly doubtful, especially when you consider Elvis’s long list of health issues.
The mistake has put the Pittsburgh-based tombstone company, Matthews International Corp., on the hot seat for many die-hard Elvis fans.
Daniel Majestic, the marketing manager for the company, points the blame to Graceland. “We manufactured Elvis Presley’s memorial according to our customer’s specifications. That’s the way the family ordered the memorial.”
Corinne Laboon, a spokesperson for Matthews International Corp., says that the family has never expressed any issue with the tombstone.
“His wife, Priscilla, and his daughter, Lisa Marie [and] all the people who were close to him have all seen it. You’d think if it were wrong, they’d want it fixed. Maybe the fans are wrong. Maybe the name is spelled with two’ a’s.'”
The Way The King Preferred It
However, Danna Yarmowich, a spokesperson for Graceland, Elvis Presley’s sprawling estate, clears things up for everyone. She simply states that the name is spelled the way Elvis wanted it.
According to the family, Elvis Presley was named after a family friend, Aaron Kennedy. Furthermore, Elvis’s parents spelled the middle name with one “a.” They did this to match Elvis Presley’s stillborn twin, named Jesse Garon.
Additionally, when the King grew up, he spelled it with two “a’s” to match the name’s spelling in the bible. Yarmowich even revealed that he was considering legally changing it prior to his death.
According to Pitt.edu, Yarmowich said, “Then Presley found a pleasant surprise on a copy of his birth certificate – someone had accidentally spelled his middle name with two ‘a’s,” exactly the way he wanted it. From then on, everything Elvis signed carried the middle name ‘Aaron.'”
So, at the end of the day, both Aaron and Aron are technically correct, but the hit artist preferred the version with two “a’s,” giving us the “error” on his tombstone.