The islands of Fernando de Noronha off the coast of Brazil, discovered by one of his expeditions and granted to Loronha and his heirs as a fief in 1504, are named after him.
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Even the corruption of his name from Loronha to Noronha might not be accidental, but reflect a popular assumption (which he might not have been eager to correct) that he was connected to the Noronha clan, one of the most illustrious noble families in Portugal, of royal Castilian descent (although there is no evidence Loronha had any ties, by blood or marriage, to the Noronhas).
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On August 10, 1503, the expedition stumbled on an uninhabited island off the northeast Brazilian coast that is now called the Fernando de Noronha island.
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On January 14, 1504, King Manuel I of Portugal issued a royal letter granting the island of São João (Fernando de Noronha) personally to Fernão de Loronha and his descendants, thereby making Loronha the first Portuguese hereditary donatary captain of Brazil.