How do we pronounce Rio de Janeiro?
Is Rio pronounced HIO?
Which brings us to Rio, which as you’ve probably just guessed, is not pronounced “Rio” at all. It’s more like “Hio“. Seriously, that’s how you say it. “Hio” de Janeiro.
What does Rio de Janeiro mean in English?
The name Rio de Janeiro, which translates in English to literally ‘January River’, was the result of a mistake by Portuguese explorer Gaspar de Lemos. Lemos left Portugal in 1501 on an expedition and arrived at a huge bay in Brazil, known nowadays as Guanabara Bay, the following January.