• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Animals / How Did the Turkey Get Its Name?

How Did the Turkey Get Its Name?

February 29, 2020 by Karen Hill

Turkeys have never been raised in Turkey. In fact. the turkey wasn’t known in Europe until it was discovered by early colonists in North America. But in a way, the turkey was named after the nation of Turkey! Here’s how it happened:

When European settlers first saw the turkey in America, they thought it looked like another bird, one they were familiar with, the guinea fowl, or Turkey-cock, often brought to England from Turkey. Its name was later shortened to “turkey.”

A turkey can eat 80 pounds of food before it has grown to 15 pounds!

Related Facts

  • How Did the Turkey Get Its Name and Where Does the Word Turkey Come From?
  • How is The Guinea a Coin, Three Countries, and a Rodent?
  • Which Explorers First Explored the Continents of the World?
  • Where Do Turkeys Come From?
  • What was the European Age of Exploration?
  • Where did the expression “to talk turkey” originate and What does it mean?

Filed Under: Animals

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Where Do Parakeets Come From?
Next Post: How Do Sea Birds Drink When They Fly Across the Ocean? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy