Toronto’s unusual name has a life of its own, which is in many ways distinct from the history of the city itself. Originating in local indigenous languages that reflected a wider regional geographic history, and then re-shaped through the tongues of French explorers and subsequent British settlers, here is an overview of how the city of Toronto got its name.
Local Aboriginal languages
Although the precise origins of the name are debated, echoes of ‘Toronto’ can be found in at least two Aboriginal language groups that inhabited the region at different points in history. For many years, the accepted origin was from a Wendat (Huron) word translating as “meeting place,” but subsequent scholarship has revealed possible Mohawk origins of the word. The word “tkaronto” was used to refer the narrow stretch of water between Lake Simcoe and Lake Couchiching, near present-day Orillia. Literally translated as “where there are trees standing in the water,” the name was first recorded by Champlain in 1615.
