The güiro was adapted from an instrument which might have originated in either South America or Africa. Today, many güiros are made of wood or fiberglass.
The güiro is made by carving parallel circular stripes along the shorter section of the elongated gourd. The güiro is a notched, hollowed-out gourd. In the Arawakan language, a language of the indigenous people of Latin America and spread throughout the Caribbean spoken by groups such as the Taíno, güiro referred to fruit of the güira and an instrument made from fruit of the güira.
