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.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
|- align="left"
! County name
! Language of origin
! Meaning
|-
| Alba
| Latin
| 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.
|-
| 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).
|-
| 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<BR>(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
| From Bucur, personal name meaning "joyful", cognate with Albanian bukur (beautiful)
|-
| Buzău
| Greek
| Greek origin from Μουσαίος (Mousaios), the original name of the city of Buzău.
|-
| Caraș-Severin
| Turkish and Slavic
| Named after the Caraș River (Turkish Kara, "dark, black") and Turnu Severin (Romanian, "Northern Tower": turn is borrowed from German Türm, "tower"; severin is a Slavic word meaning "Northern").
|-
| Călărași
| Romanian<BR>(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.
|-
| 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.<br />
|-
| 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
| Named after the Dâmbovița River, from Дъб, dămb, meaning "oak"
|-
| Maramureș
| Indo-European
| It originates from the Mara river which name is possibly derives from the Indo-European Mori (sea, still water) and Mors (dead).
|-
| Mehedinți
| Romanian<BR>(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
| Named after the Mureș river, in Latin Maris ("murky").
|-
| Neamț
| Romanian<BR>(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
|-
| 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").
|-
| Sibiu
| Slavic
| Slavic: from sviba, "horn". Latin: from Cibinum, the name of the town of Sibiu as mentioned in 1191 - ultimately derived from the name of the river Cibin
|-
| Vrancea
| Slavic
| Ultimately from vrana, "raven".
|-
|}
Historical counties
{| class="wikitable"
|- align="left"
! County name
! Language of origin
! Meaning
|-
| Bălți
| Romanian
| "ponds"
|-
| Caliacra
| Greek
| From "καλός" ("beautiful") and "άκρα" ("headland" or "edge" or "extremity")
|-
| Covurlui
| Cuman
| From kurgu, "dry" + suffix -ui, "water"
|-
| Cetatea Albă
| Romanian <BR>(Latin)
| "White fortress"
|-
| Câmpulung
| Romanian <BR>(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 <BR>(Dacian?)
| "hillock"
|-
| Soroca
| Slavic
| "magpie"
|-
| Vlașca
| Slavic (ultimately Germanic)
| "land of the Vlachs" (see Vlachs#Etymology)
|}
Notes
References
See also
- Counties of Romania