Barrancos is a transparent toponym. It has an obvious correspondence with the homonymous appellation, both in Portuguese and Spanish: the plural of the word barranco, an irregular excavation generally made by rain or alluvium. The word developed the meaning of ‘river that forms in winter and dries up or can dry up in summer’. This would have been the motivation for Barrancos. The proximity of the town to many of these ravines (do Arroio, da Coitadinha, da Cabra, das Parras, da Matança, etc.) would seem to confirm this.