How did the book 'One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest' get its name?

Answer 1

It comes from a nursery rhyme, which the protagonist remembers playing with his grandmother:

Wire, briar, linber-lock,

Three geese in a flock.

One flew east, one flew west,

And one flew over the cuckoo's nest.

In this case, cuckoo is also a pejorative term for someone who's crazy or clinically insane. So a cuckoo's nest would be a sanitarium or asylum, where a 'flock' of cuckoos could be found.

Flying over such a nest would be a metaphor for both overseeing the action, and escaping it.

For more info, click the link below, and scroll down to Section II.B: The Meaning of the Title.

Answer 2

The title "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" comes from a children's rhyme that Chief Bromden remembers from his childhood. The title is metaphorical, suggesting the idea of breaking free or rebelling against the control and hierarchy represented by the mental institution and its authoritarian figure, Nurse Ratched.