Where does “Tocantins” come from?

Tocantins (English) comes from Portuguese Tocantins, from Old Tupi tukã, from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *tũkãn — toucan.

Ancestry of “Tocantins”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1PortugueseTocantins—
2Old TupitukãToucan
3Proto-Tupi-Guarani*tũkãntoucan
Every word from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *tũkãn →Every word from Old Tupi tukã →Every word from Portuguese Tocantins →