CURIOSITIES: Origin of the name

Amon (barrio)

It lent its name from the Amon Fasileau Duplantier, a Frenchmen, who bought that terrains in the end of XIX century.

Aserri (village)

The name has to do with cacique with the same name who used to live there.

Barra Honda (national park)

The name for that national park was given by Indians, who check by ropes the depths of the caves that are placed there. It`s name means exactly "the deep rope".

Barva (volcano)

Its name has to do with the name of Huetares cacique who used to live there in Precolumbian times.

Braulio Carillo (national park)

It is named after Costa Rica's third Chief of State, Braullio Carrillo, who proposed building of a highway from San Jose to the Caribbean Coast. (now it passed through the park surface).

Bridal Veil (waterfall)

It`s name means a "veil". According to a legend a group of family and friends arrived there to celebrate a wedding. The horse went berserk and jumped taking the bride and her long trailing veil over the cliff.

Cahuita (national park)

Its name derives from the mixture of two words: "cawi" (small tree with red barks used for making the canoes) and "ta" (the peninsula).

Cabo Blanco (island)

That small island is indepted its name to thick, white layels of birds excrements. In translation it means "the white cape".

Canas (village)

The city was named for the white-flowered wild cane that grows around that.

Carara (biological reserve)

The name Carara is Huetar Indian name for crocodile. It`s because there are huge number of that animals in flowing through that the Tarcoles river.

Coto Brus (valley)

The name was derived from the Indian words meaning "province" - Coto and the name of Indian tribe - Brus.

Dominical (village)

The name derives from the dominicos plantations (a variety of plantain) that were settled by Victor "Chucuyo" Sibaja at the beginning of the century.

Durika (cerro)

Its name means "the powerful spirit". It was originally given by the Cabecar Indian tribe. The shamans claim the peak brings them powerful dreams where they can communicate with the other worlds and receive profound messages for their people.

Muerto (cerro)

The literally the name means "the death peak" and was given by men who were moving through that by carretas from San Isidro to San Jose for markets. It occurred especially in the first half of XX century when there wasn`t yet the Panamerican Highway. Tired travellers often have fallen to asleep in very low temperaturas and have frozen to death.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica is indepted its name to its discoverer-Cristopher Columbus, who on coming to Costa Rica`s coast in 1502, perceived, that local Indians wore loin-clothes with golden pieces. For that reason he drew to the conclusion about riches of new discovered country. That was also the direct reason for naming it "the rich coast" (in Spanich - Costa Rica). Columbus was convinced that in jungles inside the country there were hidden the gold mines, where Indians were to put the wealth objects. That hipothesis had nothing to do with thereality.

Another hipothesis was that the name of Costa Rica was given by Gil Gonzalez Davila - a man who discovered in 1522 among others the Gulf of Nicoya.

The last version claims that for the first time the name Costa Rica was used by governor Hernan Sanchez de Badajoz in 1538 replacing the old name Antiqua Veragua.

Desamparados (town)

Its name comes from the figure of Virgin of Desamparados from the local church.

Drake (bay)

It`s named after sir Francis Drake, who anchored there and set foot on land in 1579.

Escazu (town)

Its name is from Indian word "Izt-kat-zu". That word means "the resting stone". In the old times this town was placed in route of Indian walkings, in the half way between villages of Asseri and Pacaca (around Ciudad Colon). Many travellers stopped there for rest.

Flamingo (beach)

Originally Playa Blanca, the stretch of beach and surrounding area were renamed Flamingo in honor of the attractive pink roseate spoonbills, which developers mistook for flamingos.

Golfito (town)

Its name means "the little gulf". It has to do with its location on the small gulf, which is a part of larger Dulce Gulf.

Guanacaste (province)

The name of Guanacaste comes from the Aztec word Quah-Nacaz-Tlan and means "the place of ear`s trees". It has something to do with national tree Guanacaste that grows on this region. Their seeds are formed in the shapes of ears.

Irazu (volcano)

The name of this volcanoe Irazu (Iztaru) is from language of Indians that used to live on its slopes. It means "the thunder" or "a place which trembles".

Lomas de Barbudal (national reserve)

Its name means "the bearded hills" and has something to do with mosses and lians that cover trees and resemble hairines.

Manuel Antonio (national park)

The name derives from the name of spanish soldier who was killed during the fight against Indians Quepos (on the beach occupated now by Manuel Antonio National Park).

Manzanillo (village)

It was named for the great manzanillo tree that onced towered over the coast.

Nosara (village)

The name of the village derives from the river which in turn is named after an Indian girl.

Orosi (town)

Orosi was named after a Huetar Indian chief, who lived there at the time of the conquest.

Orosi (volcano)

The name was created from conglomerate of two spanish words: oro (gold) and si (yes). According to legend one day when to the top of volcanoe scrambled the Spanish squad, suddenly happened an earthquake. One of soldiers was to screem at that moment that was a sign for existing layels of silver. Then an echo from the bottom of crater repeated: "plato-no (silver-no), oro-si (gold-yes).

Orotina (village)

Its name has something to do with Indian Cacique Gurutina that used to lived there.

Osa (peninsula)

Its name derives from giant anteater. (Literally in Spanish "ant`s beard"). That animal abounds there around.

Palo Verde (national park)

The name is derived from rising within its boundaries the plants called palo verde. In literally translation they means "the horses` heads".

Penas Blancas (national reserve)

The name of this reserve means "the white cliffs". It`s because there exist the light coloured dolomite cliffs of volcanic origin.

Poas (volcano)

It`s a indigenous name for a small prickly plant that grows through-out the upper slopes of the two main craters of volcanoe.

Pozo Hediondo (cave)

It was named for the quantity of extrement accumulated by its abundant bat population. Literally its name means "the smelling hole".

Puntarenas (town)

Its name is from conglomeration of two spanish names "punta" and "arenas". They means "the sandy cape". It has something to do with its characteristis position on long peninsula, which was created by currents` silts.

Puriscal (village)

It derives its name from "the flowers of beans". (It used to be lots of beans cultivations around).

Quepos (town)

Its name comes from the name of Quepoa - a subtribe of the Borucas Indians, that in colonial times lived in area of today`s town.

Rincon de la Vieja (volcano)

It means "the corner of old lady" and is attributed to indigenous people of the Guatuso tribe living on the eastern side of the volcano who believed that an old witch lived on top of that and would send columns of smoke into the air whenever she got annoyed.

Santa Cruz (town)

The name means "Saint Cross". It`s because of wooden cross, which was placed in front of the house of a Miquel Ramos before the town was settled.

San Vito (village)

It was named San Vito (the Saint patron of immigrants) because in 1951 that was settled by 111 Italian families.

Siquirres (town)

Its name means "the colored" and was for the first time recorded in 1678.

Talamanca (mountain range)

It`s a Miskito Indian word meaning "place of blood" referring to the seasonal slaughter of turtles.

Tamarindo (beach)

The name was given because of tamarind trees that back the beach.

Terciopelo (cave)

Its name means "a snake". It was named for the snake found dead during first exploration.

Tibas (village)

Its name comes from the Indian name Tibatsi (Ti "water" and Batsi "juy of being sheltered").

Tilaran (town)

The present name was confirmed in 1910. Was created from the conglomaration of two indian words: Tilava ("hard raining") and Tlan ("place of many floods").

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