The turkey was called a “firkee” by Native Americans.

It is said that Christopher Columbus thougth that he’d landed in India, and he believed that the bird he’d discovered was a kind of peacock.  So, he called it “tuka” which means ‘peacock’.

When a turkey is scared it makes a sound like “turk, turk, turk”.

These are the three best guesses as to why that particular bird was named a “turkey”.