# Why Hungary? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 1, 1999, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hungary/3630 "1999-10-01T23:48:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neuro-trash_grrrl)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 1999, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hungary/3630/1 "1999-10-01T23:48:00Z")
Going right along with the “Why Germany?” topic below, I have been wondering for a long time why we call them “Hungarians” when they call themselves “Magyars”. Does this have anything to do with Huns? The Magyars are supposed to have originated on the other side of the Urals, after all. Has Cecil covered this, too? ---
**Author:** ![Akatsukami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@Akatsukami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akatsukami)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 1999, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hungary/3630/2 "1999-10-02T01:15:00Z")
neuro-trash grrrl (is that the right number of "r"s?) asks: > [@](#): > > I have been wondering for a long time why we call them “Hungarians” when they call themselves “Magyars”. “Hun” has nothing to do directly with “Hungarian” (although I suppose the same _goyische kop_ that associated “Tatar” with “Tartarus” and “Mongol” with “Magog” may have confused the issue). Actually, “Hungary” is related to Slavic _Ugre_ and \*_Og’rin_, meaning a speaker of a Finno-Ugrian (get it?) language, instead of an Indo-European one (\*\*Og’rin’\*, incidentally, appears to be Altaic, not Finno-Ugrian. The vulgate Laws of Thermodynamics seem appropriate here). * * * “Kings die, and leave their crowns to their sons. Shmuel HaKatan took all the treasures in the world, and went away.” ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 1999, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hungary/3630/3 "1999-10-02T06:28:00Z")
I think the Huns and the Magyars are related. The Magyars are said to have settled Hungary in the 10th Century AD; Atilla was king of the Huns in the 5th Century AD. Atilla’s kingdom was centered on modern Hungary. The best explanation I heard for the association between Huns and Hungary is > [@](#): > > Obviously, when the Huns first appeared on the edges of the Roman > Empire, they made a strong impression, but after their initial threats they > settled down along the Danube, particularly in the Great Hungarian Plain, > and for almost fifty years they served the Romans as allies more often than > they attacked them as enemies. [http://art1.candor.com/barbarian/attila.htm](http://art1.candor.com/barbarian/attila.htm) Both Huns and Magyars originated in Central Asia. The Magyar language is in the Uralic family; the Uralic languages have theoretical connections to the Altaic languages which include Turkish and Mongolian. What language the Huns spoke, I suppose we will never know, but they are pretty commonly thought to be of Mongolian stock, so I would hazard the guess that they spoke an Altaic language. Two separate waves of Central Asians settling the same area seems like quite a coincidence. My own little theory, inspired by [http://www.hungary.com/hungq/no142/p126.html,](http://www.hungary.com/hungq/no142/p126.html,) is that the two separate waves of Asian horse people both chose the Great Hungarian Plane because it is the part of Europe most like Central Asia. It wouldn’t do to try to ride pell-mell through the black forest or the Alps, after all. ---
**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 1999, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hungary/3630/4 "1999-10-02T07:37:00Z")
Hey, if you can get a herd of elephants across the Alps, why not horses? And isn’t ‘Hungry’ one of those ‘-gry’ words? Ray ---
**Author:** ![Poto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ab992/32.png) [@Poto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poto)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 1999, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hungary/3630/5 "1999-10-02T11:33:00Z")
People are often a given a name by their neighbors. When you ask a person what they call themselves, you’ll get a word that translates to “the people”. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 1999, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hungary/3630/6 "1999-10-02T22:16:00Z")
Note these: “German” _deutsch_ “Hungarian”–_magyar_ “Finnish”–_Suomialainen_ “Albanian”–_Shqip_ “Japanese” _Nihon go_ “Armenian”–_Hayeretz_ “Lithuanian”–_Lietuviskai_ ---
**Author:** ![Momotaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Momotaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Momotaro)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 1999, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hungary/3630/7 "1999-10-03T00:03:00Z")
A Japanese person is a nihon-jin. Nihon-go means Japanese language. ---
**Author:** ![No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/no_me_ayudes_compadre/32/5224_2.png) [@No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Me_Ayudes_Compadre)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 1999, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hungary/3630/8 "1999-10-03T00:05:00Z")
Armenia=Hayeretz? Is it coincidence that this resembles “ha’eretz” which if I recall correctly is “the land” in Hebrew? If not coincidence, what is relation between Armenia and ancient tribes of Israel, if any?