Hello again everyone, time for a new post! This one will be rather unique (or at least I hope it is), talking about the origins of the names of each country in Europe! Because there are so many (around fifty, since I am using the most extended concept of the European Continent there is), I have decided to divide this into five parts: ten countries per each part, in alphabetical order. This will allow for each post to be not too long in size, and therefore (ideally) easier to digest.
Before I begin, I would just like to note that nations with limited or no international recognition, constituent nations and dependencies will not be added. Perhaps I could do an extra blog post for those one day? Maybe…
Another noteworthy thing is that these will be the origins of each European countries’ names in their native language, therefore the origins of the exonyms (names used by non-natives to describe them) shall not be covered. Nonetheless, these countries are still listed in alphabetical order as the initials of their names would be in English -simply because that is the language I am using here. Hope that helps to clear things up! Do not worry, I will still be using the English names when describing the country -it is literally just the origin of their native name that will be explained and described.
Without further ado, let us begin right away with the first ten countries of the list!
Albania
So, the origin of the native name for Albania (Shqipëri) is quite complex. The Albanians have given themselves and their country multiple different names throughout their History; with that being said, Shqipëri is (one of) the contemporary name(s) used to describe Albania (the second being Shqipëria, a variant of Shqipëri). As a people, they call themselves Shqiptar. This name, corresponding to their country’s endonym, seems to have multiple different meanings: one source claims it to originate in the word(s) “to speak clearly”, or “to understand”. Essentially, this means that Albanian in their native language roughly translates to “those who speak clearly” (this is not unusual, as other languages do the same in describing their native speakers, something that will be seen later down the line). Another, popular belief points to the Albanian word for “Eagle” (Shqipe, or Shqiponja), the animal present on their national flag and coat of arms; thus the name of their country Shqipëri or Shqipëria translating something roughly along the lines of “Land of the Eagle” (if we are to imagine that the suffix –ia may apply in Albanian in the same way it does in other European languages when describing the “land of” a population that lives there, possible examples being Albania, Romania, Slovenia).
Andorra
And here we have our first country, their name being of unknown origin! Yes, Historians and Linguists have speculated on a variety of names for this country in the Pyrenees, yet the origin still seems to remain unknown. Greek sources describe it as being named after the Andosins, a pre-Indo-European Iberian population living in the area, potentially related to the Basques (the name Andosins sounds similar to the Basque word for Giants, or possibly similar to the Basque word for water), who barred the passage of the Carthaginian Army on their way to Rome. Others describe a word of Arab origin, ad-Arra, meaning a land of dense forests. Popular belief has it that the name Andorra comes from Andor, a Canaanite city located in a valley found in the near east, conquered by the Israelites; the name was given as such by Louis the Pious using the analogy of the victory over Andor with his victory over the Moors in the region. Others even more believe that the name comes from Andurrial, a word from Aragon meaning shrubland. The name of this small co-principality therefore still remains a fascinating mystery, to which scholars still debate to this day the origin of this nation’s endonym.
Armenia
Yes, I am counting Armenia, a country often debated on whether it is part of Europe, Asia, or both, in this list too. Why? Because I am being quite maximalist with my definition of Europe, simple really. So, the native name for Armenia, Hayastan, roughly translates to “land of the Hayer” (Hayer being the plural word for Armenians in Armenian, and the suffix -stan of Persian and Sanskrit origin meaning “land”). The name Hayer is, as is the case for many countries, of great debate to this day. Some scholars point to a relation with the word Hittite, a population that lived in Asia Minor and that established a massive ancient empire stretching all over the region; a Bronze age polity in the Armenian highlands, known as Hayasa-Azzi; an Indo-European word meaning “metal” (due to the large ore deposits in Armenia); or, according to Armenian historiography itself, a reference to Hayk Nahapet, the founder of Armenia (Hayk itself once being an older endonym used as a name for Armenia). What would you think the origin of the name Hayastan may be?
Austria
Austria’s native name, Österreich, is one of the most straightforward names on the Continent: it literally translates to “Eastern Realm” in German and it is called as such due to its geographical position in German-speaking Europe, being located in its easternmost regions. In Medieval times, it was also used to describe the borders of Europe itself, believed to end just east of the HRE (hence the “Eastern” part of the name): proof that the concept of where Europe begins and ends has been an ongoing topic for centuries! Naturally, this idea of such a small Europe does no longer is as prevalent as it used to be, but the name of the country of Austria has remained.
Azerbaijan
Atropates (Hellenised name of the Persian name Ātūrpāt) was the name of a Satrap (governor) of a region in the Achaemenid Empire on the South-Western Caspian coast. He became so powerful and wealthy that often, the region he governed, became autonomous in its own right. This Satrapy was known as Atropatene, or Ātṛpātakāna in Old Persian. Once Turkic populations started to arrive and settle into the region, they inquired about the name of the land, which by then its name had morphed into Āzarbāydjān in Farsi. The name was therefore Turkified as Azerbaijan, and has remained as such since the country’s independence in 1918. With that being said, the name Azerbaijan mostly referred to Iranian Azerbaijan, and less the independent country of today (part of it more widely known as Shirvan), becoming a contentious topic between Baku and Teheran in the early 20th Century.
Belarus
The name Belarus translates directly to “White Rus”. The reasoning behind the name is uncertain; it may refer to the difference between the region inhabited by Christian Ruthenians (named White Ruthenia by the Lithuanians) and that of the Pagan Balts (named Black Ruthenia by the Lithuanians). Geographically speaking, both White and Black Ruthenia are both located in modern-day Belarus itself. Due to the conflation of the name Rus’ with Ruthenia and Russia (from which both name originate), the region would often be called White Russia (or Belorussia) being one of the three Russias (Great Russia, Little Russia, and White Russia). This name was used to describe the region, and until 1991, the country used the variant of the name, Byelorussia (a term already used in Poland) as its official name, until changing to the one used today.
Belgium
The Kingdom of Belgium is named as such after the ancient Belgii, people who used to live in the area at the time of the Roman conquest. The goal of Belgian nationalists during their independence struggle in naming their country as such was meant to harken back to an ancient origin and the (re)establishment of some degree of continuum between the two, a concept not uncommon in nation building. The origin of this name remains identical in all of the three official languages of Belgium, being French, Dutch and German.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
This is an interesting one. Although being oftentimes shorthanded as Bosnia, this Balkan nation has two origins for its name, due to its duality. Both names describe two distinct “sections” of the country, Bosnia being the largest of the two. Bosnia literally translates to “Land of the Bosna”, Bosna being the name of a river that runs through the middle of the country. To name a region after a geographic body of water is not unusual just in the same way it is to name a region after a population that either lives or lived there, and countless examples exist around the world. As for Herzegovina, a smaller region in the south-east of the country, the name derives from a Slavicised form of the German word “Herzog”, meaning “Duke”. Specifically, it refers to (and is essentially named after) the Grand Duke Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, a Bosnian nobleman that played an important role -both in practice and as an inspiration for future Bosnian rulers- in the construction, strengthening and establishment of the Medieval Bosnian State. The name Herzegovina itself only began to be used more widely during Ottoman rule, where the region was administrated as the Sanjak of Herzegovina.
Bulgaria
Being another straightforward name once again, Bulgaria (written България in its native language) simply means land of the Bulgars/Bulgarians. The Bulgars (itself a word of uncertain origin) were a Turkic people who settled in the area in the early middle ages. Constant warfare with their neighbours (especially the Byzantines, and, later on, the Magyars and the Mongols) decimated most of the Bulgars. By this time, the Slavs had been entering the Balkans from the North and Northeast, settling in these lands, naming themselves Bulgarians as to form some sort of continuum with the Turkic inhabitants, while still having a degree of difference with the first. Although the Bulgars no longer exist, the name has remained very much the same since Medieval times.
Croatia
This is a fascinating one! Hrvatska, the native name of Croatia, seems to be of probable Iranic origin (despite the Croats being Slavs), roughly translating to something such as “Guardians” or “Protectors”. This may have been so due to the employment of Croats (before they arrived in the Balkans) as palace guards and security among the Iranic peoples living in what is nowadays southern Ukraine. As they left these lands and began settling in modern-day Croatia, they kept this name, and have been doing so since their arrival. In short, Hrvatska could roughly translate to “Land of the Guardians” today. This is of course only one (yet the most widely agreed upon) origin, as there are more than TWENTY theories regarding the origin of the name Hrvatska.
End of part one
And yes, these are the first ten countries in the series “Etymology of Europe”! I hope you enjoyed it and learned something about the names of countries that you were not previously aware of! Thank you for reading. Let me know what you think, and let me know if there are any other names of these countries that may be their origin. Thank you again, and have a lovely day!
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Can you change the name of your article about Szlachta? Technically, all Szlachta are aristocracy and your article’s name is a misnomer. Standard academic nomenclature classifies the entire Szlachta estate under the umbrella of hereditary nobility and aristocracy. Only a few scholars who misunderstood the concept of “Golden Liberty” or “equality amongst aristocracy” classified upper income magnate Szlachta and lower income homesteader Szlachta as being separate from eachother in terms of being aristocracy but this is a Western misunderstanding that is no longer accepted even in the West as magnate Szlachta and homesteader Szlachta were legally of the exact same rank — the aristocratic noble rank. If the Western definition of an aristocrat is someone who possesses sovereign political power by birthright, then every single member of the Szlachta fit that description. Scholars such as Norman Davies and Adam Zamoyski state that Szlachta are a class of aristocracy. Norman Davies stresses that while Western European aristocracies were minute, isolated circles, Poland democratized aristocratic status. Davies says that by extending sovereign birthrights to all Szlachta, the Commonwealth created an “Aristocratic Republic.” Both Davies and Zamoyski define the Szlachta as an aristocracy because they fit the purest political definition of the word: they possessed supreme, hereditary political power by birthright. Davies and Zamoyski show that Poland’s unique historical path upheld the Szlachta as aristocracy.
Hi Michael,
Thank you for your comment! Very helpful, I have made changes to the article’s name but also its contents to correct the errors made with the advice given. Frankly I was not particularly keen on that article, I do not think it’s the best one I’ve written: I felt I did not give it the attention to detail, clarity and understanding that it deserved; I was thinking of either changing it from the ground up or having it made private, but I kept putting it off. Hopefully it looks better now!
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