Some French computer scientists have a tradition of naming their software as animal species: Caml, Elan, Foc or Phox are examples of this tacit convention. In French, “coq” means rooster, and it sounds like the initials of the Calculus of Constructions CoC on which it is based.
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From coq FAQ:
Did you really need to name it like that?
Some French computer scientists have a tradition of naming their software as animal species: Caml, Elan, Foc or Phox are examples of this tacit convention. In French, “coq” means rooster, and it sounds like the initials of the Calculus of Constructions CoC on which it is based.
https://coq.inria.fr/V8.1/faq.html#htoc4
Also, Thierry Coquand, who is behind CoC, and is also one of the developers of the software that became Coq.