Why is the southern bay of cuba called the Bay of Pigs?

Answer 1

The "Bay of Pigs" had the name long before the invasion by Cuban refugee forces in 1961. In Spanish, it's Bahia de los Cochinos ("Bay of Pigs"). It may not be named for pigs, but for a type of fish.

Following Fidel Castro's takeover of the island in 1959, a US-backed force of Cuban exiles invaded Cuba in 1961 in an attempt to overthrow Castro, and landed at the Bay of Pigs. The under-equipped forces were defeated after 3 days of fighting. President John F. Kennedy did not directly commit any US armed forces to the attack, which had been sanctioned by the Eisenhower administration.

Answer 2

The Bay of Pigs is the name we now call the 1961 CIA sponsored invasion of Cuba. Bahia de Cochinos, the Spanish place name, is a body of water adjacent on the southern edge of the Zapata swamp on the Caribbean side of Cuba. The Cubans in Cuba refer to the Bay of Pigs Invasion as "Playa Giron", a beach on the bay. The translation of "Cochinos" is NOT "pigs" although pigs are also called cochinos. Cochinos is the name of a fish, thus the bay of the fish Cochinos.