was a dialectal form for "gourd", so they may get their name from being thought to resemble gourds in some way, e.g. in having big stomachs.
wʌzɐ dˈaɪəlɛktəl fˈɔːɹm fɔːɹ "ɡˈʊɹd", sˌoʊ ðeɪ mˈeɪ ɡɛt ðɛɹ nˈeɪm fɹʌm bˌiːɪŋ θˈɔːt tə ɹᵻzˈɛmbəl ɡˈʊɹdz ɪn sˌʌm wˈeɪ, ˈiː.dʒˈiː. ɪn hˌævɪŋ bˈɪɡ stˈʌməkz.