The myth of the Coco, Cucuy, originated in Portugal and Galicia. According to the Real Academia Española, the word coco derives from the Galician and Portuguese côco [ˈko.ku], which referred to a ghost with a pumpkin head. The word coco is used in colloquial speech to refer to the human head in Portuguese and Spanish. Coco also means "skull". The word cocuruto in Portuguese means "the crown of the head" or "the highest place". In Basque, Gogo means "spirit".\n', 'In Galicia, crouca means "head", from proto-Celtic *krowkā-, with variant cróca; and either coco or coca means "head". It is cognate with Cornish crogen, meaning "skull", and Breton krogen ar penn, also meaning "skull". In Irish, clocan means "skull".\n', '

Many Latin American countries refer to the monster as el Cuco. In northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, where there is a large Hispanic population, it is referred to by its anglicized name, "the Coco Man". In Brazilian folklore, the monster is referred to as Cuca and pictured as a female humanoid alligator, derived from the Portuguese coca, a dragon.\n', '

In Spain, Portugal, and Latin America (including Brazil), parents sometimes invoke the Coco as a way of discouraging their children from misbehaving; they sing lullabies or tell rhymes warning their children that if they don't obey their parents, el Coco will come and get them and then eat them.\n", '

Return to Cuco Autograph Profile