Cluj

Cluj (accusative indefinite nominative)
Clujul (accusative definite nominative)
Cluj (indefinite)
Clujului (definite)
Clujule (vocative)

Compare the Hungarian name for the town, Hungarian Kolozsvár (cp.vár), and the German Klausenburg (cp. Burg). Alternative forms in older Romanian include Cluș.
May be derived from a Slavic diminutive of Nicholas, compare Czech Mikluš, ultimately from Ancient Greek Νικόλαος (Nikólaos).
Alternately, may be derived from Latin clausa, clusa, from clausus or clusus through an intermediate; compare the medieval Latin name for the town, Castrum Clus. See also Proto-Slavic *kľũčь (“key”).
The official name of the city is Cluj-Napoca, with the name of the Roman settlement Napoca added in 1974, but this form is rarely used outside of official contexts.


Alba

Alba (accusative indefinite nominative)
Albaua (accusative definite nominative)
Albale (indefinite)
Albalei (definite)
Alba (vocative)

From alba, definite feminine form of alb.


București

head

București m (definite nominative and accusative Bucureștiul, definite genitive and dative Bucureștiului, vocative Bucureștiule)

Bucureștiul (accusative definite nominative)
Bucureștiului (dative definite genitive)
Bucureștiule (vocative)
București (accusative indefinite nominative)
Bucureștiul (accusative definite nominative)
București (indefinite)
Bucureștiului (definite)
Bucureștiule (vocative)

From Bucur (a male given name) + -ești (patronymic or placename suffix). Bucur is the legendary shepherd who is said to have founded the city: his name is often considered to be related to bucurie (“joy”) and bucura (“to become glad”), either of Albanian or Dacian origin, but it may alternatively be derived from a lost word in Romanian relating to pastoral life, ultimately linked to Latin būculus (“young bullock, steer”), diminutive of bōs (“ox, cow”). Compare Old French bugle, French beugler.


România

României (dative genitive)
Românie (accusative indefinite nominative)
România (accusative definite nominative)
Românii (indefinite)
României (definite)
Românie (vocative)
Românio (vocative)

→ English: România

From român + -ia, from the definite form of -ie; român (“Romanian”) derives from Latin Romanus. See also Țara Românească, an older name for the country.

România e o țară foarte frumoasă.

Limba României și a poporului ei, nesurprinzător, se numește română.
The language of Romania and her people, unsurprisingly, is called Romanian.

Southeast Europe
Southeast Europe#English


Arad

Arad (accusative indefinite nominative)
Aradul (accusative definite nominative)
Arad (indefinite)
Aradului (definite)
Aradule (vocative)

Borrowed from Hungarian Arad, its first ispán.


Olt

Oltului (dative genitive)
Olt (accusative indefinite nominative)
Oltul (accusative definite nominative)
Olt (indefinite)
Oltului (definite)
Oltule (vocative)

Uncertain. The name has been used since the ancient times, but the phonetic change a > o appears to indicate that the word reached Romanian through a Slavic intermediary (similar to the change from acetum to oțet). Direct inheritance from Latin would have yielded *Arută.
Ancient recorded variants include: Ancient Greek Aλoύτα (Aloúta) (Strabo), Ancient Greek Aλoύταζ (Aloútaz) (Ptolemaios), Latin Alutus (Tabula Peutingeriana).


Iași

Uncertain. Probably from Kipchak yaasi (“archers”), from yaa (“bow”), from Proto-Turkic *yā(y) (“bow”).
Early in the 20th century, a link to the ancient Iazyges has been proposed, the Roman name of an ancient Sarmatian tribe that once lived in the area, or from a tribe of Alans known as the Jassi.


Marea Neagră

the Black Sea (an inland sea between southeastern Europe, Caucasus and Asia Minor)


Ромыния

Romînia (romanization)
Ромыния (accusative nominative uncountable)
Ромынией (dative genitive uncountable)

Post-1930s Cyrillic spelling of România.: Romania (a country in Southeast Europe)


Brașov

Brașov (accusative indefinite nominative)
Brașovul (accusative definite nominative)
Brașov (indefinite)
Brașovului (definite)
Brașovule (vocative)

Borrowed from Old Church Slavonic *Брашовъ (*Brašovŭ), from Брашо (Brašo) + -овъ (-ovŭ), diminutive from Братиславъ (Bratislavŭ). Compare the Hungarian name for the city, Hungarian Brassó, from the same source.
An alternative has been proposed from a Turkic barasu, meaning "white water" with a Slavic suffix -ov.
The city was known as Kronstadt ("Crown City") in the local Transylvanian Saxon (German) language, and Corona (“crown”) in Medieval Latin.

bor+

Brașov (a county in Transylvania, in central Romania)


Carpați

Possibly ultimately from the name of a Dacian tribe, the Carpi, see Wikipedia, and from Proto-Indo-European root *(s)ker-; see also Carpathians for more information. According to Eichner, possibly from Proto-Albanian *karpātai (“mountanous place”)


Mureș

Uncertain. Either from a substratum language or from a Slavic language or from Hungarian Maros. The o > u sound change is common in Romanian before liquids in borrowings; compare олѣи (olěi) to ulei.
The river was known as Marisus in Latin during antiquity, and mentioned by Herodotus around 484 B.C. as Maris, possibly of Dacian origin, and in the 10th century as "Morisis". It is known as Maros in Hungarian and Mieresch in German.


Constanța

Constanța (accusative indefinite nominative)
Constanțaua (accusative definite nominative)
Constanțale (indefinite)
Constanțalei (definite)
Constanța (vocative)

Originally known as Tomis in antiquity, the city was later renamed Constantiana after Flavia Julia Constantia, sister of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great; it was first attested as Constantia, or Κωνστάντια (Kōnstántia) around the mid 10th century.


Hunedoara

Borrowed from Hungarian Hunyadvár, from Hunyad + vár (“fortress”).


Maramureș

Maramureș (accusative indefinite nominative)
Maramureșul (accusative definite nominative)
Maramureș (indefinite)
Maramureșului (definite)
Maramureșule (vocative)


Buzău

Buzău (accusative indefinite nominative)
Buzăul (accusative definite nominative)
Buzău (indefinite)
Buzăului (definite)
Buzăule (vocative)

Uncertain. Its name may be derived from Hungarian *Bozó, from Old Church Slavonic *Бъзовъ (*Bŭzovŭ, “[river] of the elderberries”), from бъзъ (bŭzŭ, “elderberry”). However,
the Slavic name might be an adaptation via folk etymology of earlier Ancient Greek Μουσεος (Mouseos), from a Paleo-Balkan language.


Prahova

From Old Church Slavonic *прахова (*praxova), from прахъ (praxŭ, “dust”) + -ова (-ova, feminine possessive suffix). The county name is derived from the river.


Munții Carpați

Carpathian Mountains
Carpathian Mountains


Carpații Meridionali

Southern Carpathians
Southern Carpathians


Dâmbovița

Borrowed from Old Church Slavonic *дѫбовица (*dǫbovica, “[river] of the oak trees”), from дѫбъ (dǫbŭ, “oak”) + -овъ (-ovŭ, possessive suffix) + -ица (-ica, deadjectival suffix), from Proto-Slavic *dǫbъ + *-ovъ + *-ica.

bor+

Dâmbovița (a county in southern Romania)


Sibiu

Sibiu (accusative indefinite nominative)
Sibiul (accusative definite nominative)
Sibiu (indefinite)
Sibiului (definite)
Sibiule (vocative)

From earlier from Sibiiu, borrowed from Old Church Slavonic Сибинъ (Sibinŭ).


Satu Mare

From older Sătmar, from Hungarian Szatmár, reinterpreted as satul mare (“the great village”).


Botoșani

Botoșani (accusative indefinite nominative)
Botoșaniul (accusative definite nominative)
Botoșani (indefinite)
Botoșaniului (definite)
Botoșaniule (vocative)


Suceava

Borrowed from Hungarian Szűcsvár, derived from szűcs (“furrier”) + vár (“fortress”).


Teleorman

Of Cuman origin, derived from Kipchak teli (“mad”) + orman (“forest”). Doublet of Deliorman, from Ottoman Turkish.


Dolj

From older Doljiu, derived from Old Church Slavonic [Term?], from долъ (dolŭ, “valley”) + Жилъ (Žilŭ, “Jiu river”), from Proto-Slavic *dolъ (“valley”). Compare Gorj ("mountain Jiu").


Covasna

Covasnă (accusative indefinite nominative)
Covasna (accusative definite nominative)
Covasne (indefinite)
Covasnei (definite)
Covasnă (vocative)
Covasno (vocative)

Borrowed from Hungarian Kovászna, derived from Proto-Slavic *kvasьna, from *kvasъ, referring to the taste of the mineral waters in the region.


Gorj

From older Gorjiu, derived from Old Church Slavonic [Term?], from гора (gora, “mountain”) + Жилъ (Žilŭ, “Jiu river”), from Proto-Slavic *gora (“mountain”). Compare Dolj ("valley Jiu").


Bihor

Bihor (accusative indefinite nominative)
Bihorul (accusative definite nominative)
Bihor (indefinite)
Bihorului (definite)
Bihorule (vocative)

Borrowed from Serbo-Croatian vihor (“whirlwind”), from Proto-Slavic *vixъrъ (“whirlwind”). Compare vifor.


Ilfov

Ilfov (accusative indefinite nominative)
Ilfovul (accusative definite nominative)
Ilfov (indefinite)
Ilfovului (definite)
Ilfovule (vocative)

Borrowed from Old Church Slavonic ельховъ (elĭxovŭ), from ельха (elĭxa) + -овъ (-ovŭ), from Proto-Slavic *elьxa (“alder”). Compare Bulgarian Елхово (Elhovo).


Ialomița

Borrowed from Old Church Slavonic ꙗловица (jalovica, “[river] of the barren land”), from ꙗловъ (jalovŭ, “barren”) + -ица (-ica), from Proto-Slavic *jalovъ (“barren”) + *-ica (deadjectival suffix).


Vâlcea

Vâlcea (accusative indefinite nominative)
Vâlceaua (accusative definite nominative)
Vâlcele (indefinite)
Vâlcelei (definite)
Vâlcea (vocative)

Uncertain. There is a Romanian word vâlcea (“small valley”), however, its stress is on the last syllable, unlike Vâlcea, which has its stress on the first syllable, making it unlikely to be derived from it.
An alternative is a derivation from a Slavic word *vьlkъ (“wolf”), as the 1247 Diploma of the Joannites of king Béla IV of Hungary mentions in the area a knez named Farkas (“wolf”), which could just be a translation of the name of the knez's name into Hungarian.

Vâlcea (a county of Oltenia, in southern Romania)


Tulcea

Borrowing from Turkish Tulça, from tul (“height, length”) + -ça.


Călărași

Călărașii (accusative indefinite nominative)
Călărașiii (accusative definite nominative)
Călărașii (indefinite)
Călărașiilor (definite)
Călărașiilor (vocative)


Bacău

Bacău (accusative indefinite nominative)
Bacăul (accusative definite nominative)
Bacău (indefinite)
Bacăului (definite)
Bacăule (vocative)

Borrowed from Hungarian bakó (“executioner”).


Giurgiu

Inherited from Latin Geōrgius, from Ancient Greek Γεώργιος (Geṓrgios). Compare Italian Giorgio. Doublet of George and Gheorghe.


Mehedinți

Borrowed from Serbo-Croatian Mehedinec, from Mehadia + -ec (demonym suffix).


Sălaj

Borrowed from Hungarian Szilágy, from szil (“elm”) + ágy (“river bank”). Doublet of Silaghi, which is a surname.


Neamț

From neamț (“German”), from Old Church Slavonic нѣмьць (němĭcĭ), from Proto-Slavic *němьcь.


Argeș

Argeș (accusative indefinite nominative)
Argeșul (accusative definite nominative)
Argeș (indefinite)
Argeșului (definite)
Argeșule (vocative)

Probably from Kipchak argis (“height”). An etymological link to the ancient names (Ordesos, Ὀρδησσός (Ordēssós)) is possible, but unlikely.


Vrancea

Vrancea (accusative indefinite nominative)
Vranceaua (accusative definite nominative)
Vrancele (indefinite)
Vrancelei (definite)
Vrancea (vocative)

Probably from Old Church Slavonic *враньць (*vranĭcĭ), from вранъ (vranŭ, “raven”) + -ьць (-ĭcĭ).


Timiș

Ultimately from Latin Tibiscus, of possible Thracian or Dacian origin.


Brăila

Brăila (accusative indefinite nominative)
Brăilaua (accusative definite nominative)
Brăilale (indefinite)
Brăilalei (definite)
Brăila (vocative)


Vaslui

Vaslui (accusative indefinite nominative)
Vasluiul (accusative definite nominative)
Vaslui (indefinite)
Vasluiului (definite)
Vasluiule (vocative)

Unknown. Due to the -ui ending, it has been proposed to be of Kipchak [Term?] origin.