List of Romania county name etymologies

Many of the etymologies of Romanian counties 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	Latin / Romanian	Named after the city of Alba-Iulia ("The white city of Julius/(the) Gyula; in Hungarian Gyulafehérvár, "White castle of (the) Gyula; also Bălgrad, "White city" in several Slavic languages), probably from the white colour of the city walls. Alba is also of Romanian origin, not just Latin, Romanian IS a Latin language.
Arad	Hungarian / Jewish	Linked to the Jewish city, also present in the Bible, "Arad".	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).
Argeș	Dacian	Named after the Argeș River, in ancient times Argessos, probably meaning "shiny".
Bacău	Hungarian or Slavic or Cuman/Pecheneg (Turkic) or Latin	Named after the city of Bacău, in medieval times known as Bacovia in Latin, possibly meaning "the road of Bachus". The area was an important source of wine for the Romans. Alternatively Bakovia or Bakova derives from a person name Bako, found in Transylvania and as well in Bulgaria. The name is considered Hungarian or a derivation from Proto-Slavic byk (meaning "ox" or "bull"), or of Cuman/Pecheneg origin. The region was very suitable for raising cattle.
Bihor	Hungarian, Slavic	The county's name is the Romanian equivalent of the former Bihar County, which originates from the city of Bihar. The Hungarian Bihar derived from the word vihar (tempest, storm), that is of Slavic origin; vihor (whirlwind).
Bistrița-Năsăud	Slavic and Hungarian or German	Named after Bistrița (Slavic, "rapid"), a city and river and the city of Năsăud (Hungarian Naszód, German Nussdorf, "walnut tree village"). It may be also possible it derived from a person name, documented in 1269 as Naswod (current Nesvady).
Botoșani	Romanian /Mongolian	Several possible origins: botoș (tick), botos (big-mouthed), botoșei (booties) and where Batu Khan split a part of his armies, invading what is now the northern Balkans, Hungary, Austria and Bohemia. "Batu", also pronounced "Botu", means "firm" in the Mongolian language.
Brașov	Uncertain, possibly Slavic	Possibly from baras, fortress.
Brăila	Turkish	Turkish origin from the proper name "Ibrail". Among the earlier names are Ibraila, Brilago, Uebereyl, Brailov.
București	Romanian (Dacian)	From Bucur, personal name meaning "joyful", cognate with Albanian bukur (beautiful), assumed to be of Thraco-Dacian origin.
Buzău	Romanian	Most probably comming from the Romanian word "buză", meaning "lips".
Caraș-Severin	Turkish and Old Romanian	Named after the Caraș River (Turkish Kara, "dark, black"), or it can be derived from the Romanian word "a căra" meaning "to carry" and Turnu Severin (Romanian, "Northern Tower": turn is a Latin/Old Romanian word, just how "Turris" is in Old Latin; severin is an Old Latin/Old Romanian word, similar to the Old Latin "severus" or "sever" in Romanian, meaning "harsh"/"drastic"/strict".
Călărași	Romanian (Latin)	From călăraș, Historical term for "horseman" (military or courier). The word derives out of Romanian călare (riding), itself from cal (horse), Romanian cognate of Latin caballus.[1]
Cluj	Hungarian, German or Latin	From the first part of Cluj-Napoca, deriving either from German Klause, "Mountain pass", Latin clusium, "enclosing", referring to the surrounding hills, or Hungarian Kolos, Miklós, after the first castellan of the local castle. But it is rather from the Old Latin/Old Romanian word, just how "Napoca" was already there on Roman Empire maps of Dacia.
Constanța	Latin	Named after Constanța. The city, originally called Tomis, was renamed Constantiana by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine, in honor of his sister, Flavia Julia Constantia.
Covasna	Slavic	From Slavickvasny квасны, "soured, fermented", referring to the mineral waters of the region, with bubbles like beer and other fermented drinks.
Dâmbovița	Slavic / Romanian	Named after the Dâmbovița River, from Дъб, dămb, meaning "oak"[2] Or coming from the Romanian word "dâmb", meaning "small hill".
Dolj	Slavic	From Dolu Jiu, the Jiu of the valley. The Jiu river flows through the county.
Galați	Slavic Latin Cuman Turkic	Onomastic slavo-român „Gal” căruia i s-a adăugat sufixul „aț”, formă destul de răspândită în slava meridională. Rădăcina „Gal” aparține fondului de cuvinte slave, având sensul de „murdar” sau „noroi”, care, ulterior, a suferit o transformare semantică, căpătând înțelesul de „negru”. Astfel, adjectivul „Gal”, prin sufixul „aț” s-a substantivizat. Alta ipoteza: în anul 313, împăratul Constantin cel Mare a înființat un vicariat condus de vicarul Cocceius Galatus. A luat ființă și o colonie numită Galati.[necesită citare] Evenimentul este confirmat de o piatră funerară a unui cetățean roman din Histria datând din anul 157 d.Hr. From gala(t), borrowed to Turkish kala (fortress) (also, an unsourced speculation, ascribe the origin to a certain Galatian Celtic tribe)
Giurgiu	Romanian or possibly Italian	Similar to the word "ghiurghiuliu". 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 related to "Argeș" (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, which are related with Romanian.
Hunedoara	Hungarian	"Hunedoara" is the transliteration of the Hungarian name "Hunyadvár" meaning "Castle of Hunyad." From Proto-Uralic *kuńa- (“to close eyes, blink”).
Ialomița	Slavic	Named after the Ialomița river, formerly known as Ialovnița, from Slavic jalov, "barren"[2]
Iași	Possibly Sarmatian	Named after the Sarmatian Iazygi which lived in the 1st century. However, this does not explain the existence of other localities called Iași throughout Romania.
Ilfov	Slavic	Named after the Ilfov River, from Slavic "Elhovo" meaning "Alder" (Alnus glutinosa).[2]
Maramureș	Old Romanian	It originates from the Mara river which name is possibly derives from the Old Romanian Mori (sea, still water) and Mors (dead).
Mehedinți	Romanian (Latin)	From the town of Mehadia, possibly be derived from the ancient Latin name of the colony: Ad mediam ("in the middle"). Mehedinți might also come from Mehadianți, as -ianțiu/-ianțu is a common ending for family names in the area.
Mureș	Latin or Old Romanian	Named after the Mureș river, in Latin or Old LatinMaris ("murky").
Neamț	Romanian (Slavic)	Named after Piatra Neamț, neamț means "German" (from Slavic nemeti). The Teutons built a fortress there to protect the Bicaz Pass, which leads to Transylvania and "piatra" means "stone" in Romanian
Olt	Dacian or unknown	Named after the Olt river, known to the Dacians as Alutus (etymology unknown). Contemporarily it has been also described as Alouta (Aλoύτα) and Aloutaz (Aλoύταζ). 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").[2] Prag can also mean "threshold" in Romanian
Satu Mare	Romanian	"Sat" means "village" in Romanian and Old Romanian, with similar Latin roots in "Satum" (a form of the verb "to plant", "to sow", the basic activity in a village) and "Mare" which means "big" in Romanian, but also "sea", which are also present in Old Latin. These names are older than Hungarian occupation, Dacian presence can be seen on many Roman Empire maps along the centuries, when the name is replaced by "Vlah/Valahian".
Sălaj	Hungarian	Named after the Sălaj River, from Hungarian Szilágy "elm creek", composed from szil, "elm" and ágy "riverbed".[3]
Sibiu	Latin	Latin: from Cibinum, the name of the town of Sibiu as mentioned in 1191 - ultimately derived from the name of the river Cibin[4] that passes through the town.
Suceava	Romanian or Old Latin / Hungarian	A form of the Romanian word "succeda", meaning "come after", word present in other Latin languages like French ("succeder") or Italian ("succeve") or Old Latin ("succedere").	From Szűcsvár, "Town of the skin-workers", from szűcs, "fourrier" and vár, "city".
Teleorman	Romanian or Old Latin / Cuman (Turkic)	Coming from the Latin and Romanian word, "tele", meaning "from afar".	From deli orman "thick forest" (lit. "mad forest").
Timiș	Possibly Latin	After the Timiș 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	Romanian / Cuman (Turkic)	Coming from the Romanian word "vas", which means "pot"/"bowl"/"vessel".	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). Or from the word "val" which means "wave" in Romanian or Old Romanian. Also possibly from vlk ("wolf"), the name of a Dark Age Slavic warlord mentioned in Hungarian chronicles.[5]
Vrancea	Slavic	Ultimately from vrana, "raven".

Historical counties

County name	Language of origin	Meaning
Bălți	Romanian	"ponds"
Caliacra	Greek	From "καλός" ("beautiful") and "άκρα" ("headland" or "edge" or "extremity")[6]
Covurlui	Cuman	From kurgu, "dry" + suffix -ui, "water"
Cetatea Albă	Romanian (Latin)	"White fortress"
Câmpulung	Romanian (Latin)	"long plain"
Durostor	Greek	From the Roman name of Silistra, Durostorum, ultimately from the Ancient Greek Δουρόστορον (Douróstoron).
Odorhei	Hungarian	First part of Odorheiu Secuiesc, from Székelyudvarhely, "Market-town of the Székely"
Muscel	Romanian (Dacian?)	"hillock"
Soroca	Slavic	"magpie"
Vlașca	Slavic (ultimately Germanic)	"land of the Vlachs" (see Vlachs#Etymology)