diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backend_bases.py b/lib/matplotlib/backend_bases.py
index 06fbc8106a54..46e115bba203 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/backend_bases.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/backend_bases.py
@@ -3029,6 +3029,30 @@ def mouse_move(self, event):
                                                     str(newY) +
                                                     "         Original coords: "
                                                     ))
+                        elif type(hover) == list:
+                            import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+                            lines = plt.gca().get_lines()
+                            num_of_points = 0
+                            for line in lines:
+                                num_of_points += 1
+                            if num_of_points >= len(hover):
+                                raise ValueError("""Number of data points
+                                does not match up woth number of labels""")
+                            else:
+                                mouse_x = event.xdata
+                                mouse_y = event.ydata
+                                for line in lines:
+                                    x_data = line.get_xdata()
+                                    y_data = line.get_ydata()
+                                    for i in range(len(x_data)):
+                                        distance = ((event.xdata - x_data[i])**2
+                                                    + (event.ydata - y_data[i])**2)**0.5
+                                        if distance < 0.05:
+                                            (self.set_hover_message("Data Label: "
+                                                                    + hover[i] +
+                                                                    "         " +
+                                                                    "Original coords: "
+                                                                    ))
                         else:
                             self.set_hover_message(self._mouse_event_to_message(event))
                 else:
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_toolkit.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_toolkit.py
index 8b40a120c781..a5f57b0f9ec1 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_toolkit.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_toolkit.py
@@ -13,12 +13,20 @@
 
 # print(matplotlib.__version__, matplotlib.__file__)
 
-fig, ax = plt.subplots()
-plt.ylabel('some numbers')
+# fig, ax = plt.subplots()
+# plt.ylabel('some numbers')
+
+
+# def user_defined_function(event):
+#     return round(event.xdata * 10, 1), round(event.ydata + 3, 3)
 
+# ax.plot(rand(100), 'o', hover=user_defined_function)
+# plt.show()
 
-def user_defined_function(event):
-    return round(event.xdata * 10, 1), round(event.ydata + 3, 3)
+# Alternative test for testing out string literals as tooltips:
+
+fig, ax = plt.subplots()
+plt.ylabel('some numbers')
 
-ax.plot(rand(100), 'o', hover=user_defined_function)
+ax.plot(rand(3), 'o', hover=['London', 'Paris', 'Barcelona'])
 plt.show()