There are many explanations offered for the origin of the name chickenpox:

• Samuel Johnson suggested that the disease was "less dangerous", thus a "chicken" version of the pox;
• the specks that appear looked as though the skin was pecked by chickens;
• the disease was named after chick peas, from a supposed similarity in size of the seed to the lesions;
• the term reflects a corruption of the Old English word giccin, which meant itching.