One is that the name was coined by French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat who said it was a ‘cry of exclamation and astonishment’, which the locals gave upon seeing the creature. The second is that ‘aye-aye’ is derived from the Malagasy phrase heh heh which means ‘I don’t know’. When the locals were asked what the creature was, they would answer‘heh heh’, either because they really didn’t know what it was or they were afraid to speak its name.
