Meaning & Story
Turkey is the English word for the large bird native to North America, Meleagris gallopavo, whose name came through a complicated geographic misidentification involving Turkish trade routes and the Guinea fowl. As a pet name it is purely playful and affectionate.
Turkey is a name given with a great deal of love and a great deal of laughter. Nobody names their pet Turkey by accident — this is a deliberate embrace of absurdity, an acknowledgment that this animal is so wonderfully themselves that a conventional name would never do them justice. A Turkey is usually extremely beloved.