John DeGood wrote:

I am often curious about the origin of orchid names. Is there an
etymology reference available? Several examples:

Cultivar

- Do the numerous "Mendenhall" cultivars all originate from Carter &
Holmes Orchids, which is located on Mendenhall Road?


Generally an award is the reason a cultivar is named. You can
check on this by looking them up in Wildcatt and finding out who
got the award. I also believe the Memdenhall is tied to Carter
and Holmes. Many growers pick a cultivar name and stick to it
for all their awarded plants.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php