List of names for turkeys

The common names for Meleagris gallopavo (the wild turkey of North America, but best known worldwide from the domesticated turkey), in other languages also frequently reflect its exotic origins, seen from a European viewpoint, and confusion about where it actually comes from. See Turkey (bird) for the etymology of the English name and the scientific name Meleagris.

From geographic names

Confusion with guineafowl

Turkey

India

As a lot of trade took place through Indian traders, many parts of Europe associated the traders with the potential source of the bird.

Calicut

France

Peru

Other places

From other origins

Seven-faced bird

Blue bird

The general source - Turkic languages, from where "blue bird" was borrowed to many languages of the Caucasian region:

Names in indigenous languages of North America

In the indigenous languages of North America, a turkey is known by a variety of names, some being a variation on "big bird".

Other

References

  1. Cherokee Nation Foundation Dictionary
  2. Duden, Band 7, Das Herkunftswörterbuch, 1963, ISBN 3-411-00907-1
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