I attended a conference on the history of the Ouija board several years ago in Salem, Mass and met william Fuld's grandaughter there. Fuld was the creator of Parer Brothers Ouija board. Ouija was the French and German combination of words as I recall according to Feld. There were a lot of talking boards after before and after that but it was Feld's definition of Ouija. Actually, before Feld, the original inventor Charles Kennard called the new board Ouija (pronounced wE-ja) after the Egyptian word for good luck. Ouija is not Egyptian for good luck, but since the board reportedly told him it was during a session, the name stuck. Or so the story goes. It is more likely that the name came from the fabled Moroccan city Oujda (also spelled Oujida and Oudjda). This makes sense given the period's fondness for Middle Eastern cites and the psychic miracles of the Fakirs.