How did the harbor of Rio de Janeiro get its name?

Answer 1

A Portuguese expedition reached the harbor on January 1, 1502. Among the expedition members were Portuguese explorer Gaspar de Lemos and Italian explorer and mapmaker Amerigo Vespucci. The former had the honor of naming the mouth of the bay Rio de Janeiro [January River]. Subsequent historians have suggested that expedition members mistook the mouth of the bay for the mouth of a river. But others have suggested that the term river was always chosen to describe a large body of water. In fact, the subsequent name for the bay conveyed that notion of largeness. For Portuguese settlers kept the name chosen by the resident natives. The name Baia de Guanabara [Guanabara Bay] came from the Tupi-Guarani goana-para, for a bay that was similar to the sea.