Vir (Stephen Furst) claims that "Zocalo" means "Great Marketplace"; series creator J. Michael Straczynski made the same claim in a post on the web. In fact, "zocalo" is the Spanish word for "plinth"; it's become associated with "central square" because the main plaza in Mexico City is called the Zocalo. The name was attached to that plaza when the plinth to a monument for the 100th anniversary of Mexican independence was installed covering most of the plaza. The monument was never constructed, and the plinth eventually removed, but the name remained. Many towns and cities across Mexico now refer to their central plazas as "Zocalos".