Nomadic Narrative

Even if you’re not into toponymy, the scientific study of place-names, you will undoubtedly find the origin of some Costa Rican town names fascinating, if not hilarious.

While many names across Costa Rica display the religious (Christian) names bestowed by European missionaries, there are several places that hold onto their earliest names. Unfortunately, these are disappearing rapidly, and in turn, are generating complaints that there are just too many San Rafaels and San Franciscos. It’s confusing!

Costa Rican town names and their original meaning:

Vuelta Horco (Horco Turn), a small coffee-producing town in the mountains surrounding San José: Horco is a kind of tree. When carretas, or oxcarts in English, were still traversing the countryside, people would give directions in this area saying “turn at the horco tree.” Vuelta in Spanish means turn; hence the name Vuelta Horco. Becoming a landmark of sorts, water and other services popped up around the tree. To this day, the name remains the same.

Vuelta Horco town

Rabo de Mico (Monkey Tail), a town in the Ezcazú mountains just outside of the San José Central Valley: Rabo means tail and mico in Costa Rican Spanish means monkey. The name is said to come from a tree fern that locally has the name Rabo de Mico. The butt of many jokes—mico in Costa Rican Spanish also refers to a female genital organ—the people of Rabo de Mico changed their name a few years ago to one of the “San’s.”

Chiverri: (Squash), a town also just outside of the San José Central Valley. The area’s townspeople, famous for cultivating spaghetti squash, came to dislike being known as Cheverriños, what could loosely be translated as “squashers.” And so, they changed the name to El Carmen.

Names, a reflection of a country’s history, geography and language, really make you want to delve into the subject a bit more. I found this book interesting: Placenames of the World by Adrian Room.