The word Jericoacoara comes from Tupi (an indigenous language) and means "lair of turtles."

It is a town and a beach of Ceará, as well as the name of the national park created in its surroundings.

A fact of some historical significance is the report of Vicente Yáñez Pinzón (Captain of Nau Nina, the fleet of Christopher Columbus), which anchored in the bay of Jericoacoara in 1499.

[1] But this was not official at the time as a result of the Treaty of Tordesillas, which was signed in the same year.

On 4 February 2002 the Jericoacoara National Park was created, taking over from the state environmental protection area, and a federal environmental protection area was established on the outskirts of the village to prevent further growth into the ecologically fragile dunes.