[jser]

sallie mae = student loans. fannie mae and freddie mac are home mortgage only.

[amackera]

Did all the financial institutions in the States get together to come up with the most ridiculous sounding names?

[portman]

They're attempts to phonetically sound out the acronym.

FNMA = Federal National Mortgage Association = "Fannie Mae"

SLMA = Student Loan Marketing Association = "Sallie Mae"

[miniatureape]

Attempts that gives them "folksy" small-bank sounding names.