Origin of the name Curaçao

The origin of the name Curaçao is still under debate. One explanation is that it is derived from the Portuguese word for ‘heart’ (coração), referring to the island as a centre in trade. Spanish traders took the name over as Curaçao, which was followed by the Dutch. Another explanation is that Curaçao was the name the indigenous peoples of Curaçao had used to label themselves (Joubert and Baart, 1994). This theory is supported by early Spanish accounts, which refer to the indigenous peoples as “Indios Curaçaos”.

Whatever the origin of the name, after 1525 the island appeared on Spanish maps as “Curaçote,” “Curasaote,” and “Curasaore.” By the seventeenth century the island was generally known on all maps as “Curaçao” or “Curazao”.

On a map created by Hieronymus Cock in 1562 in Antwerp, the island was referred to as Quracao.

The name “Curaçao” has become associated with a particular shade of blue, and is sometimes used as an adjective, because of the deep-blue liqueur named “Blue Curaçao”.