The name flamingo comes from Portuguese or Spanish flamengo (“flame-colored”), which in turn comes from Provençal flamenc – a combination of flama (“flame”) and a Germanic-like suffix -ing. The word may also have been influenced by the Spanish ethnonym flamenco (“Fleming” or “Flemish”). The name of the genus, Phoenicopterus, is from the Greek φοινικόπτερος phoinikopteros, lit. ’crimson/red-feathered’); other genera names include Phoeniconaias, which means “crimson/red water nymph (or naiad)”, and Phoenicoparrus, which means “crimson/red bird (though, an unknown bird of omen)”.