What is "eeny, meeny, miny, moe"

alt. A children's counting-out game n. A children's counting-out game

"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe", which can be spelled a number of ways, is a children's counting rhyme, used to select a person in games such as tag. It is one of a large group of similar rhymes in which the child who is pointed to by the chanter on the last syllable is 'counted out'. The rhyme has existed in various forms since well before 1820, and is common in many languages with similar-sounding nonsense syllables.

Since many similar counting rhymes existed earlier, it is difficult to ascertain this rhyme's exact origin.