There are different versions as to how the country got its name, but the strongest etymological origin is that a fishing village was called Panamá, which meant “many fish”.  Some people argue, however, that Panamá is a type of tree; and yet others attest the word comes from the country’s indigenous people and means “many butterflies”.  Nowadays, Panamá’s schools teach children that the word means a mixture of all three etymologies: “an abundance of fish, trees, and butterflies.”