The aboriginal name of
this city was Qusqu. Although it was used in Quechua, its origin
has been found in the Aymara language. The word itself originated
in the phrase qusqu wanka ('Rock of the owl'), attending to the
foundational myth of the Ayar Siblings. According to this legend,
Ayar Auca (Ayar Awqa) got wings and flew to the site of the
future city and transformed into a rock to mark the possession of
the land by his ayllu ('linage').
"Go fly over there
(they say his wings were born), and by sitting down there take
possession in the very seat where that milestone appears, because
we'll then settle and live there". Ayar Auca, after hearing
the words of his brother, rose on his wings and went to that
place Manco Cápac commanded him, he sat there and turned himself
into stone and became a possession mark, which in the ancient
language of this valley is called cozco, therefore this place
remained with the name of Cozco until today. —Juan Diez de
Betanzos, Suma y narración de los incas.
The Spanish
conquistadors adopted the local name, transliterating it into
Spanish as Cuzco or less often Cozco. Cuzco was the standard
spelling on official documents and chronicles at the colonial
epoch. In 1976, the City Mayor of Cuzco signed an ordinance
banning the traditional spelling and ordering the use of a new
one, Cusco, in the municipality publications.
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