Tocuyito was founded in 1547 by Spanish Conquistador Juan de Villegas. The name derives from its initial similarity to the town of El Tocuyo (Tocuyito is little Tocuyo). Tocuyo is an Indian word for "maniok juice".
There was an important battle in Tocuyito on 14 September 1899, when the so-called Revolution for Liberal Restoration, led by Cipriano Castro, decisively defeated the governmental forces of president Ignacio Andrade
