# Whence 'Moscow?'

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-moscow/56653>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 3, 2001, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-moscow/56653 "2001-03-03T20:15:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-moscow/56653/1 "2001-03-03T20:15:53Z")

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The Russian word for this city is actually closer to _Moskva_. We’ve had a number of threads about how other peoples’ names for their own country is typically different from the names that other countries ascribe to them, but for the most part we keep city names as close to the original as possible.

So. . .

Who started calling it Moscow? It has a Polish look to it, so did the Poles vault this version into prominence? And, if so, who decided that it should “officially” be pronounced “moss-ko,” as opposed to “moss-kow,” since that’s not even how the Poles (assuming they’re the culprits) would pronounce it.

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**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-moscow/56653/2 "2001-03-03T20:39:45Z")

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Found one possibility of an answer:

> [@](#):
>
> German historian of the middle of the XVIII-th century Gotlib Bayer supposed that Moscow was named after the ancient monastery “Moskoy” which means “men’s closter”.

From [this site](http://www.tradition.ru/msk/file1_9e.asp). Seems Moscow/Moskva is a “hydronym”, or a place named after a river.

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-moscow/56653/3 "2001-03-03T21:51:19Z")

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It may come from the Latin form of the name, **Moscovia** or **Muscovia**. In Latin class, I was taught that clasical Latin _v_ was pronounced like English _w_ but it may be that by the time Moscow was first called Moscovia, the standard was already to pronounce it like English _v_. It’s hard to say, especially since the pronunciation of Latin varied from country to country.  
[/quote]  
If you’re interested, Moscow in other languages is

Moscou in French  
Moskau in German  
Mosca in Italian  
Moscou or Moscóvia in Portuguese  
Moscú in Spanish

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**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-moscow/56653/4 "2001-03-03T22:37:48Z")

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Actually, I believe that Russia wasn’t called Russia until Peter the Great. It had previously been Kievan Rus, but until Peter, the ruler was the Tsar of Muscovy.