A male turkey is typically called a tom, or a gobbler. The female turkey, when an adult, is called a hen. The baby turkeys are called a poult, or a chick, regardless of the gender. The young turkeys have the best names: young males are jake, and young females are jenny. They could be the subject of a love song from the 1980s.
The name has an interesting history despite how straightforward it seems.
The animals are named turkeys because of where the British thought they were coming from. They believed the animals were coming from the country of Turkey, so they called the animal after the country. The name prevails, and there is no sign that there is anything that’s going to change that overall name anytime soon.
