Pooka pronounced poo-ka is from the old Irish ‘Puca, which means ‘goblin’. There are many variations of the spelling Pooka some of which are Puca, Plica, Phuca,Pwwka, Puka or Pookha all of which are totally acceptable.
It is possible that the origin of the word Pooka may come from the Scandinavian word Pook or Puke meaning ‘nature sprit’.
In Ireland, the Pooka seems to be the most feared Faerie possibly because it appears only at night and enjoys creating havoc and mischief. We feel this is doing the Pooka an injustice because there are no recorded incidences of a Pooka actually causing a human any harm.