Szerkesztő:Kabóca/Román megyék etimológiája

This is a list of the origins of the names of counties of Romania. Many of the etymologies are Romanian interpretations of Slavonic names (e.g.: Gorj and Dolj), as the administration documents in the Middle Ages Romanian Principalities (Wallachia and Moldavia) were written in this language.

County name	Language of origin	Meaning
Alba	Romanian (Latin)	Named after the city of Alba-Iulia ("The white city of Julius"; also Bălgrad, "White city" in several Slavic languages), probably from the white colour of the city walls
Arad	Hungarian	Named after the city of Arad, formerly Urod (11th century) after the name of a Hungarian knight, probably from the root ur meaning lord, meaning a place, which belongs to your (-od/today:ad) lord (úr).
Argeş	Dacian	Named after the Argeş River, in ancient times Argessos, probably meaning "shiny".
Bacău	Uncertain, possibly Hungarian	Possibly named after a local warlord called Bako, "-ău" is a common Romanian ending for placenames of Hungarian origin.
Bihor	Slavic	From vihor (whirlwind)
Bistriţa-Năsăud	Slavic and German	Named after Bistriţa (Slavic, "rapid"), a city and river and the city of Năsăud (German Nussdorf, "walnut tree village")
Botoşani	Romanian	Several possible origins: botoş (tick), botos (big-mouthed) and botoşei (booties)
Braşov	Uncertain, possibly Slavic	Possibly from baras, fortress.
Brăila	Uncertain	Turkish origin from the proper name "Ibrail". Among the earlier names are Ibraila, Brilago, Uebereyl, Brailov.
Bucureşti	Romanian (Dacian)	From Bucur, personal name meaning "joyful", cognate with Albanian bukur (beautiful), assumed to be of Thraco-Dacian origin.
Buzău	Romanian (Dacian)	Possibly from buză ("lip").
Caraş-Severin	Turkish and Romanian	Named after the Caraş River (Turkish Kara, "dark, black") and Turnu Severin (Romanian, "Northern Tower": turn is borrowed from German Türm, "tower"; severin is an obsolete Romanian word of Slavic origin meaning "Northern").
Călăraşi	Romanian (Latin)	From călăraş, a military auxiliary corps of cavalry during the Middle Ages in Wallachia. The word derives out of Romanian călare (riding), itself from cal (horse), Romanian cognate of Latin caballus.
Cluj	Latin	From the first part of Cluj-Napoca, deriving either from German Klause, "Mountain pass" or Latin clusium, "enclosing", referring to the surrounding hills.
Constanţa	Latin	Named after Constanţa. The city was originally named Constantiana by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine, in honor of his sister.
Covasna	Slavic	From cvaz, "sour", referring to the taste of the mineral waters in the area.
Dâmboviţa	Uncertain, possibly Slavic	Named after the Dâmboviţa River, of unknown etymology.
Dolj	Slavic	From Dolu Jiu, the Jiu of the valley. The Jiu river flows through the county.
Galaţi	Cuman (Arabic)	From gala(t), borrowedto Arabic qal'at (fortress) (also, an unsourced speculation, ascribe the origin to a certain Galatian celtic tribe)
Giurgiu	Unknown, possibly Italian	Possibly from Rossy vel Jargo, Jurcova or Zorio. (see external link). Possibly named after Giurgiu as the Genoese in the 14th century named it after San Giorgio, the patron of their city.
Gorj	Slavic	From Gora Jiu, "Jiu of the mountains". The Jiu river flows through the county.
Harghita	Uncertain, possibly Dacian	Possibly related to "Argeş" (Argessos), but the peculiar phonetic form indicates that there was an unknown intermediary language that was not Romanian, Hungarian or Slavic, possibly some form of Sarmatian or Scythian.
Ialomiţa	Slavic	Named after the Ialomiţa river (Slavic jalov, "barren").
Iaşi	Possibly Sarmatian	Named after the Sarmatian Iazygi which lived in the 1st century. However, this does not explain the existence of other localities called Iaşi throughout Romania.
Ilfov	Slavic	Named after the Ilfov River, of unknown etymology.
Maramureş	Dacian (probably)	From mara, derived from mal, "shore", and mureş, "murky". [forrás?]
Mehedinţi	Romanian (Latin)	From the town of Mehadia, possibly be derived from the ancient Latin name of the colony: Ad mediam ("in the middle"). Mehedinţi might also come from Mehadianţi, as -ianţiu/-ianţu is a common ending for family names in the area.
Mureş	Dacian	Named after the Mureş river, known to the Dacians as Maris ("murky").
Neamţ	Romanian (Slavic)	Namd after Piatra Neamţ, neamţ means "German" (from Slavic nemeti). The Teutons built a fortress there to protect the Bicaz Pass, which leads to Transylvania
Olt	Dacian	Named after the Olt river, known to the Dacians as Alutus (etymology unknown). The initial "o" could indicate a Slavic intermediary.
Prahova	Slavic	Named after the Prahova river. Prahova derives either from prag ("water cataract") or prah("dust").
Satu Mare	Romanian, German	Named after the city of Satu Mare. Satu Mare means "Big village" in Romanian.
Sălaj	Hungarian	From szállás', "house, hut". [forrás?]
Sibiu	Slavic	From sviba, "horn".
Suceava	Hungarian	From Szűcsvár, "Town of the skin-workers", from szűcs, "fourrier" and vár, "city".
Teleorman	Cuman	From deli orman "thick forest" (lit. "mad forest").
Timiş	Dacian	After the Timiş River, known to the Romans as Tibisis or Tibiscus, of uncertain etymology.
Tulcea	Uncertain, possibly Tatar	Named after the city of Tulcea. Meaning unknown. -cea is a common Turkish ending. There is a town with a similar name (Tulchin) in Southern Ukraine, reinforcing the Tatar hypothesis.
Vaslui	Cuman	Named after the Vaslui River, which shows a typical Cuman ending for hydronyms: -ui, "water".
Vâlcea	Romanian/Slavic	Romanian for "little valley", from vale, "valley" (Latin vallis). Also possibly from vlk ("wolf"), the name of a Dark Age Slavic warlord mentioned in Hungarian chronicles.
Vrancea	Slavic	Ultimately from vrana, "raven".

Historical counties

County name	Language of origin	Meaning
Bălţi	Romanian	"ponds"
Covurlui	Cuman	From kurgu, "dry" + suffix -ui, "water"
Cetatea Albă	Romanian	"White fortress"
Câmpulung	Romanian (Latin)	"long plain"
Odorhei	Hungarian	First part of Odorheiu Secuiesc, from Székelyudvarhely, "Market-town of the Székely"
Muscel	Romanian (Dacian?)	"hillock"
Soroca	Slavic	"magpie"

Sources

• This article is based on a translation of the December 10, 2004 version of the equivalent article on the Romanian Wikipedia.