Origin of the name Panama

There are several theories about the origin of the name Panama. Some believe that the country was named after a commonly found species of tree; others believe that the first settlers arrived in Panama in August, when butterflies abound, and that the name means "many butterflies" in indigenous tongue. The best known of these versions is that a village populated by fishermen originally bore the name PANAMÁ, after a beach nearby, and that this name meant "many fish".