It's been about three years since I posted this video that did very well at the time
explaining the origin and meaning of European country names, so I thought it was about time
to provide an update. The names haven't changed but we can go a little more in depth
No long intro, let's jump straight into it. Timestamps below if you want to skip to a specific country
I'm gonna go west to east because I'm Portuguese and I want to start with my own country
Portugal's name comes from the Roman Celtic Portus Cale, which referred to the rough region
where Portu and Villanova de Gaia are today. Portus comes from the Latin term for port
Kalle is unclear in its origin, but it might be related to the Galaichi people, which inhabited the region
Some say it could mean port itself, but then the name would be Port-Port
There's also a Celtic goddess named Kalle, so that's a possibility. And Ireland's case is actually connected to a Celtic goddess too
Ireland is an English adaptation of the Celtic term Eid, which in turn comes from Eriu, who is a goddess in Irish mythology
I might be wrong but I think Eru is the god figure in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings universe
That's interesting. Nobody really knows where the Irish goddess got her name from but it said she represents
water and so the name would literally mean something like flowing water so I guess Ireland
would be land of the flowing water. Wales is a tricky one
The English name Wales derives from the Old English word whale meaning foreigners or outside
It was used by Anglo-Saxons to refer to the Celtic Britons, which is interesting considering
they were the outsiders and the Celts were the natives when they arrived
While the Welsh name for Wales is Kimru, which is a good example of a case where the exonym
what we call a country in English as outsiders, is different than the endonym, what they call
themselves in their own language. Kimru itself comes from the Britannic word Combrógi, which translates to compatriots
or fellow countrymen, pretty much the opposite of Wales' meaning. When it comes to Scotland, it literally means Land of the Scots
Based on the Roman name for the region, which was inhabited by the Scotty tribe
the Gaelic indonym is Alba, which derives from Albion, connected to the Indo-European term for white
maybe related to the snowy region that it describes. Wrapping up Great Britain, we have England
which comes from Land of the Angles, referring to the Angle people who traveled to Britain from
around where Denmark is, kind of. Britain itself comes from the Latin Britannia
which comes from the Pretanni, the island's original inhabitants, a Celtic name that
maybe meant something like painted people, so Britain would be Land of the Painted People
I guess. Back to the mainland, we have Spain. Also deriving from the Latin term
It seems that the Romans themselves got their term from Phoenician influences
The Phoenicians at one time had settlements and colonies in what is now Spain
They may have called the peninsula something like two very different meanings but both
connected to what the land provided to them in terms of resources to trade
France oddly has a Germanic root. Sort of. Its original name was Francia which literally means land of the Franks
So maybe Francia. The Franks were a Germanic tribe who established a kingdom in the ancient Roman province of
Gaul at the time of the barbarian invasions of Europe and the collapse of the Western Roman Empire
Their name is of uncertain origin, but many think it might be related to the Proto-Germanic
word, francon, meaning something like javelin, maybe referring to the type of weapons used
by the tribe in combat. The old name of Gaul comes from the Latin Galatia or Galia, which in turn took its name
from the local Gali tribe. Hellenistic etymology from ancient Greece connects that name in turn
to the term Gala which would mean milk referring perhaps to the very pale skin complexion of the
Gauls which I think is still a thing in France today yet another example of endonyms and exonyms
with different origins and meanings. Now imagine having to visit all of these countries or if you
chose to do it by foot how exhausting that would be you would probably need to
train a lot to be able to do it and so that is a good opportunity to introduce
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just go to go.trainwell.net slash general knowledge to find your perfect trainer and get 14 days of free training yourself Now let get back to the video Stuck between France and Spain we have Andorra
And here the potential origin is fascinating. There are three options and nobody really agrees on which one is more likely
It could come from the Arabic term Ad-Darra, which means something like thick forest because
of the landscape. It could come from the native Basque Andorria, which has a similar meaning, or from Charlemagne
who would have supposedly named the region upon visiting it, calling it Andor, in reference to the biblical Valley of Endor
which would then evolve into Andorra. Interestingly, the fictional moon of Endor in the Star Wars universe in the original trilogy is itself a thickly wooded environment
so maybe George Lucas is a fan of etymology. Quickly stopping by another microstate, we have Monaco
This one also traces its name back to the times of ancient Greece
The place where Monaco is today used to be a Greek colony called Monoikos, which meant single house
Legend says this single house would refer to the local temple built to honor Heracles or Hercules
In fact, the Roman name for the region later on was Portus Hercules Monaeci
From the Latin name Belgica, it was the term chosen arguably by Julius Caesar himself
for the name of a Roman province originally inhabited by the Belgae, a Celtic or Germanic
tribe. The name of the tribe itself meant something like to swell with anger in battle
from the proto-Indo-European root Belg. But I don't think the Belgians are very angry people today
so maybe the name isn't accurate anymore. Next to it, the Netherlands have a pretty
self-explanatory name. It means lowlands, referring to how little elevation the country has
much of it being beneath sea level. Throughout history many sources refer to the country as
Holland too, a term derived from the old Dutch word Holtlund meaning woodland. I guess there was
a significant forest there at the time. We also call the inhabitants of the country a third term
Dutch but this connects to the etymology of Deutsch and we will learn about that when we get
to Germany. Which is right now because Germany is a great example of a place where
indonym and exonyms are very different and they have at least five other names that other countries
used to refer to them. The French call it Allemagne, based on the Allemani tribe. In English, we call
it Germany, after the Germani tribe, which gave the Romans their name for the region, Germania
while in German it's called Deutschland, Land of the Deutsch, which would directly translate to
Land of the People. Deutsch comes from the old, high German term, Deustisk, that has that same
meaning, it's just a land where their own people lived and so they called it as such
I did a whole video focused on this if you want a more in-depth explanation. Dutch, the way that
we refer to people from the Netherlands, has a connected etymology because, well, they all came
from the same original ancient people or at least were viewed as such by outsiders. Moving south
we have Switzerland. It means land of the Switzers, which is now an outdated term once used to
describe the people from the country in English. It referred to the canton of Schwitz, one of the
main ones that makes up the country and just expand it to be used for the whole country
in a similar way that we used to call all of the Netherlands Holland, even though it's just one
part of the territory. The canton of Schwitz seems to have gotten its name from the old high
German term, swedan meaning to burn, referring to the clearing of forests for building. The Latin
name for the country however was Elvetia. In fact the official domain name for the country
is Confederatio Elvetica. It was named after the Elveti tribe that initially lived there
And I couldn't really find a meaning for the name of the tribe. Going back to wrap up the Benelux area we have Luxembourg. Luxembourg's medieval name is the
most complicated thing I've ever seen. It was called Lucille, a fortified structure built on
the Alzette River. Burg form Burhuk, Burg mean castle, while the Lucillian part would come from
the Germanic term Lutilla, meaning little. And speaking of little, what about Liechtenstein's
name? Coincidentally, it's also connected to a castle. Liechtenstein is named after its ruling
dynasty, which in turn is named after Liechtenstein castle, which is today part of Germany
Its name derives from the German words Licht, meaning light or bright, and Stein, meaning stone
One can imagine because these stones used to build a castle were bright
If you search for pictures of it, it does seem to be the case. Italy, of course, comes from the Latin Italia
but the origin of that term is a little contested and uncertain
One theory is that it comes from the word Italoi, used by ancient Greeks to refer to a tribe that lived there
Others say they refer to the fact that the natives of the peninsula worshipped a figure of a calf, Vitulus, in Latin
which would then evolve into Italia. A third group believe it comes from the Oskan word vitelliu, meaning land of young cattle or land of bulls
because there would be a lot of these animals in that place, which was then transmitted through ancient Greek and Latin
The Osi were also a native people in Italy in ancient times
And within Italy, we have two landlocked microstates. First, San Marino. The name of San Marino is possibly one of the most straightforward we've covered here in the year 301 AD
to escape persecution from being Christian. The Republic would have then evolved from it
Then, in keeping with the Christian theme, we have the Vatican City. Vatican likely comes from the old Etruscan settlement called Vatica
It came from the Latin word Vaticinor, which meant something like the Oracle
Others claim it is connected to the name of an Etruscan goddess called Vatica
deity of the underworld, connected also with divination, so maybe both options are partly true
it seems more true even when some sources point to the hill initially being used as a burial site
and that being the reason why, according to local tradition, St. Peter would be buried there
making it a place of worship for all Christians and eventually the chosen place for the Holy See
Next, we have Malta. The name Malta likely originates from the Greek word melit meaning place of honey most likely referring to the islands and native bees and their traditional honey production Moving all the way north we have Denmark It derives from the Old Norse Danmark
It essentially means land of the Danes or mark of the Danes
Mark meant something like woodland or borderland. The Dani tribe seemed to be local inhabitants
Although some people say Dan could come from an older Germanic word, Tene, meaning something
like flatland, because Denmark basically has no hills or mountains. Continuing our way through the
Nordics, we have Norway. Norway has a particularity that differs from most countries. It has two
languages. Because of this, they have two endonyms, Norg in Bokmal and Noreg in Nynorsk. Both mean the
same thing though, and both translate to the same English term of Norway, which comes from the old
English Nordweg. Mentioned in around 880 for the first time, it means something like northern way
or way leading to the north, which is how the Anglo-Saxons refer to the coastline of the Atlantic
part of Norway. When it comes to Sweden, its name is derived from a 17th century middle Dutch word
at least the English name. The Dutch word was Sveoland, meaning Sweden. Germans at this time
called it Sverig, which meant Swedish kingdom. This is more connected to the Swedish endonym of
Sverig and I think both come from the Old Norse Sviariki. Sverig divides itself into Svea
Swedes after the local tribe and Rike meaning kingdom. Finland rivals San Marino in its simplicity
It literally means land of the Finns, the local inhabitants but this is our English exonym. The
local indonym is Suomi, its origins are uncertain but the prevalent theory suggests it comes from
the Finnish word suoma meaning swampland or from the word suamo meaning fish scale but the first
one makes more sense. Iceland literally means the land of ice, there's not really much to it
Back in continental Europe we have one of my favorite etymology countries which is Austria
The English name comes directly from the German one, Österreich, meaning eastern realm or eastern
kingdom but interestingly this was actually a translation from the Latin name of the territory
given by the Romans, Markia Orientalis, meaning Eastern Borderland, which the Germans then translated
Slovenia and Slovakia seem to share their etymology, so we can kind of cover them together
Both of them seem to mean land of the Slavs. Slav refers to the ethnic group of people
that inhabit Central and mostly Eastern Europe, as well as the Balkans
It seems to come from the medieval Latin Sklavus, but other theories insist that
it comes from the Proto-Indo-European word, meaning people who speak the same language, in contrast to the Slavic word denoting foreign
people, namely Nimsie, which is actually how many Slavic countries refer to Germany because
Germans spoke a language they couldn't understand. Many state that the English term of slave actually
originates from Slav because during the Middle Ages, Slavic people were frequently enslaved
I'm not sure if this is true, but it would be an interesting origin. Czechia or the Czech Republic derives its name from the word Česko
The origin seems to be the Sezi tribe and their leader, Czech
who would have brought them to the region. It also used to be called Bohemia after another local tribe, the Boi
Boi meaning either the herding people or the warrior people. Nearby is Hungary
And they're called this because the first people that lived there liked to eat a lot
They were really hungry. That's of course not true. Hungary is an exonym derived from Ungaria, which referred to the land of the Ungry
the people who traveled from the steppe and conquered the lands. These people can also be referred to as Magyars, and in fact the endonym for Hungary today is Magyarorzag
Magyar seems to originate from the proto-Ugridmank, meaning man, and Eri, meaning lineage
Then Poland, where the native name is Polska. Both names are derived from the Polans, a West Slavic tribe that first lived there
The tribe's name, in turn, comes from the Proto-Slavic noun Pol, meaning field
referring to the flat territories in which the tribe originally lived, and which I guess still characterize most of Poland today
Bosnia and Erzgovina has two names, so let's find out about each
Bosnia seems to derive from the name of the river Bosnia, which could, in turn, derive from the Illydian Bas-An-As
In turn, from the Proto-Indo-European root, beg, which means something like running waters
I swear to God that like half of the world's rivers are just called river river
because the name that we give it just means river in the native language
Erzgovina means Herzog's land, and Herzog derives from the German word for duke
originating from the title of a specific duke of the region, Stepan Vucic Kosaka
When it comes to Croatia, their name comes from a sequence of ancient terms
that go all the way back to the Proto-Ossetian Survat, meaning the one who guards
Croatia is the exonym, their endonym is Rvatska, and that's derived from the Rvati people that first lived there
but the origin seems to be exactly the same. the English term is just a Latinized translation
Continuing to the Balkans, Serbia's name is a little unclear. Many theories exist, but the main one states that it comes from a Proto-Slavic term
Serbi, meaning alliance, or kinship, also could mean something like the protectors
Montenegro's name comes from the local indonym as well, which is Krenagora
literally meaning Black Mountain. it refers to the local Mount Lovson which was covered in dark, dense green forts. The country
still refers to itself in this name, I think, and in English we use the Latin version based on some
Venetian inscription. Kosovo's etymology is of South Slavic origin and it seems to be a Serbian
adjective, kos, meaning blackbird, which is incidentally the main symbol in the flag of
their brother nation of Albania Their name origin is however different connected to the Illyrian tribe of Albani who are in turn named after the root word Alp meaning hill or mountain The indonym of the country is Shkiperia and it arrives from their
word Shkip, meaning to speak clearly, a similar origin to the Slav term. North Macedonia takes
its name from the Greek region, of course, being just north of it. It comes from the Greek adjective
makednos, meaning tall, possibly describing the stature of the locals at the time, so it would
essentially mean land of the tall people. Greece itself is an English exonym too. It comes from the
Latin Gracia, which in turn comes from the Gracian tribe, one of the tribes of ancient Greece. The
indonym, however, is Elas or Elada. The name has its origins in the mythological figure of Helen
son of two figures that would have survived a flood caused by Zeus to wipe out humanity
then becoming the founding father to all Greeks. Bulgaria is named after the Bulgars
A Turkish tribe who migrated there from what is now Russia and the Central Asian steppes
The tribe's name itself may come from the Proto-Turkic word meaning shake or mix, which
doesn't really make much sense. Some others connected it to the ancient native word bilgeron, meaning people living in the
outlands, which would make more sense given the Bulgarians history. Romania also has a super cool etymology
It comes from the Latin Romanus, meaning of Rome, likely connected with the colonization
of the territory by the Roman Empire. Before the Romans, it was called Dacia, named after the Dacian tribes
Moldova is named after the Moldovan River, central at the time the Principality of Moldavia
was created. The origin of the river's name, however, is unclear. Legend says it was named after a local prince's dog, whose name was Molda
This is unlikely, but not really impossible. When it comes to Ukraine, the name is frequently interpreted as coming from the old Slavic term for borderland, as the word Krajina would be derived from the Proto-Indo-European root, Kraj meaning edge
Of course, this could either mean edge of a territory, thus borderland, or edge of a sharp cutting tool, so I guess it's up to you
While Belarus can be translated as White Ruthenia, the term first arose in the days of the Russian
Empire and the Russian Tsar was usually styled the Tsar of all the Russias, the Great, the
Little and the White. Ruthenia was essentially a Latinized form of Rus, used to refer to the lands ruled by
those people. Why the White though? I don't know. There are various theories, some say it was simply because of traditional local clothing
others because it was associated with the west direction, others simply because they had been more Christianized
It's really not certain. And moving to Russia itself, the most relevant part of which is in Europe
it takes its name from the early Rus Vikings that came from Scandinavia
and set up there ruling over the Slavic people. The name Rus itself is of uncertain origin
but one theory suggests it might be related to the old Norse word rur, meaning rowers
or those who row. it makes sense considering that they came to Russia by sea. Georgia, despite being in the
Caucasus, is definitely a European country. All exonyms are likely derived from Gorka
the Persian designation for the Georgians, meaning the land of the wolves. That's a pretty cool name
The indonym is very different, Sakartvelo, meaning land of the Kartvellians. It derives from the core
central Georgian region of Kartli. Armenia is basically European too. The exonym likely originates
from the Urartian word Armini, meaning inhabitants of Arm, possibly related to the Urumu tribe
who first settled there. Their indonym is Hai or Haistan, the origin of which is unknown
but may derive from old words like Hati, Hayaza or Haik, each connected to ancient words
places or figures. Azerbaijan is definitely less European in culture, but it's right here
so let's cover it too. The name is believed to derive from the old Persian term Atropaten
meaning land of fire or protected by fire, referencing either the natural
burning of surface oil deposits or the fire-worshiping Zoroastrian religion that at one point was prevalent there. Turkey is also technically part of
Europe at least in its East Thrace region. The English name comes from the
medieval Latin Turkiya means land of the Turks. Turk would come from the old
migration of Turkic people across Asia, referring to the ancient term Turuk meaning created or strong. Interestingly, an early form of the same name may be reflected
in the form of Tile or Tu Jue, a name given by the Chinese to the people living south
of the Altai mountains in Central Asia, some of which were shaped like a helmet and so
the name would mean helmet. This is the place that most Turks initially migrated from. Since
Since the region of Turkey that is in Europe is East Thrace, we can learn about the meaning
of it too. It seems to come from the ancient word Traiks in Greek, referring to the local tribe which
we then called Thracians. So those are the potential origins of each European country's name
Did I get your country right? If you notice a mistake or have any additional information, just leave a comment below and
keep in mind most of these are uncertain. Thank you again to TrainWell for sponsoring this video
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Either way, thank you so much for watching this video. I will see you next time for more General Knowledge
Moon Cup is one that I don't think I've shown before. It is, to be honest, he reminds me of
Doctor Strange. Is that his name? The Marvel guy? And yeah, he's just hanging around with his
black top hat and red cape. There seems to be a double moon situation. Maybe he's gazing upon Tatooine
no that's a double sun and he has a panther