In the 16th century, when North American
turkeys were first introduced to Europe, there was another bird that
was popularly imported throughout Europe, called a guinea fowl. This
guinea fowl was imported from Madagascar via the Ottoman Empire. The
merchant importers were known as “turkey merchants”. The guinea fowl
themselves eventually were popularly referred to as “turkey fowl”,
similar to how other product imported through the Ottoman Empire
acquired their names, such as “turkey corn”, “turkey wheat”, etc.
The North American turkey was first introduced to Spain in the very
early 16th century and later introduced to all of Europe. The North
American turkey was thought by many to be a species of the type of
guinea fowl that was imported from the Ottoman Empire and also were
called a “turkey fowl” in English and later shortened to just
turkey.