Was The Toyota Tacoma Named After Tacoma Washington?

Have you ever wondered where the name of the popular Toyota Tacoma pickup truck came from?

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If you’re like most people, you probably assumed that the name of this beloved vehicle was inspired by the town of Tacoma Washington. 

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Well, it turns out that there is some truth to that assumption but the Tacoma doesn't come exactly from Tacoma Washington but its name does come from Washington State.

Let's break it down:

The History Behind the Name Of The Toyota Tacoma

The Toyota Tacoma was introduced in 1995 as a replacement for the Toyota Pickup, which had been around since 1968. The original name was Hilux.

It was an immediate hit with consumers who were looking for a reliable, rugged pickup truck that could tackle both off-road excursions and urban errands with ease. It’s easy to see why this iconic pickup truck has been around for so long—it simply does its job well!

But what about its unique name? Did it really get its name from Tacoma Washington? It turns out that the answer is sort of - the name comes from Mt. Rainer - and not Tacoma Washington.

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According to Toyota, they chose “Tacoma” because they wanted something short and snappy that also connoted strength and power - It seems like Toyota likes names of mountains for its trucks.

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The name is actually taken from the original name of Mt. Rainer, "Tacoma" and "Tahoma" was the name given to the mountain by the local tribes.

So there you have it—the story behind how one of America's most beloved pickup trucks got its unique name.

The next time someone asks you if the Toyota Tacoma really got its name from Tacoma Washington, you can confidently answer nope - It's from Mt. Rainer's original name of "Tahoma" or "Tacoma".

If that question comes up on Jeopardy someday, you'll be the smartest person in the room.

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

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