# Why is Italy called 'Włochy' in Polish? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 14, 2009, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-italy-called-wlochy-in-polish/496399 "2009-05-14T12:09:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-italy-called-wlochy-in-polish/496399/1 "2009-05-14T12:09:23Z")
Looking through this [list](http://www.geonames.org/IT/other-names-for-italy.html) of foreign names for Italy, almost all the languages whose script I can decipher have a name for Italy that is clearly related to “Italia”. The exceptions being the artificial language Lojban, possibly Hungarian (always a law unto itself), and Polish, in which language Italy is called ‘Włochy’. I see that ‘włochy’ apparently also means ‘hair’, but I don’t know whether that is just a coincidence. Now, unless my pronunciation is way off, I can’t see how ‘Włochy’ comes from the same root as the other Italy-words. So where does it come from? A tribe of hairy Italians who marauded through Warsaw? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-italy-called-wlochy-in-polish/496399/2 "2009-05-14T12:20:47Z")
I grew up in a Polish-speaking house, and never knew this (nobody ever talked about Italy, I guess). Looking on the internet, I find that t’s also the name of a district of Warsaw, apparently their “Little Italy”: > **[Warsaw/Włochy - Wikitravel](https://wikitravel.org/en/Warsaw/Wlochy)** > > Włochy \[http://www.ud-wlochy.waw.pl/\] is a district of Warsaw. Włochy is also the Polish name for Italy, and in broader sense it can also mean "hair". The name of the district probably originates from the immigrants living there, although... Apparently the Gothic name for “Roman” was “Vlach”, whence Wlochy: > [@](#): > > Vlach–This comes from a Gothic word meaning “Roman,” and it is a very common designation for us in English (for example, this is the only title we are listed under in the Encyclopedia Britannica). The Slavs learned this word from the Goths, and so it has continued to the present; in fact, the Poles still refer to an Italian as “Wloch” and to Italy as “Wlochy.” [http://www.farsarotul.org/nl2\_3.htm](http://www.farsarotul.org/nl2_3.htm) Maybe they were hairy, to Gothic eyes. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-italy-called-wlochy-in-polish/496399/3 "2009-05-14T12:55:16Z")
There’s a region of Romania called Wallachia from the same root. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-italy-called-wlochy-in-polish/496399/4 "2009-05-14T12:59:35Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I grew up in a Polish-speaking house, and never knew this (nobody ever talked about Italy, I guess). > Looking on the internet, I find that t’s also the name of a district of Warsaw, apparently their “Little Italy”: > > [Warsaw/Włochy - Wikitravel](http://wikitravel.org/en/Warsaw/Wlochy) > Apparently the Gothic name for “Roman” was “Vlach”, whence Wlochy: > > [http://www.farsarotul.org/nl2\_3.htm](http://www.farsarotul.org/nl2_3.htm) > > Maybe they were hairy, to Gothic eyes. This will tie directly into Romanian – remember that the Romanians’ claim is to be the cultural descendants of Trajan’s colonists in Dacia. First, the southern principality of historic Romania is Wallachia – if you picture Romania as an open laptop with a soccer ball sitting on it, the soccer ball is Transylvania, the display screen is Moldavia, and the keyboard is Wallachia. Second, there are enclaves throughout the Balkans of people speaking Romanian-like dialects (Aromanian) and they are termed Vlachs. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-italy-called-wlochy-in-polish/496399/5 "2009-05-14T13:20:30Z")
Ah, vlach, I see (although I’m having a hard time picturing the laptop/soccer ball thing). I also see now that the Lojban word does in fact include the sequence ‘itali’. The Hungarian name, meanwhile, really doesn’t seem to relate to ‘ital’ or ‘vlach’. But it doesn’t surprise me too much that a somewhat isolated language like Hungarian does its own thing. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-italy-called-wlochy-in-polish/496399/6 "2009-05-14T14:10:28Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > if you picture Romania as an open laptop with a soccer ball sitting on it, the soccer ball is Transylvania, the display screen is Moldavia, and the keyboard is Wallachia. Suddenly, all the “if you picture Michigan as a hand” explanations I’ve ever heard sound pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-italy-called-wlochy-in-polish/496399/7 "2009-05-14T14:21:45Z")
Could this in any way be connected to the name Caesar, which which originally may have meant “hairy” before Julius brought it to greater fame? I don’t know the etymology here, so perhaps this is unlikely or the timing is way off… ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-italy-called-wlochy-in-polish/496399/8 "2009-05-14T14:35:45Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Suddenly, all the “if you picture Michigan as a hand” explanations I’ve ever heard sound pathetic. [Wikipedia on Wallachia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallachia). The maps may make my rather odd analogy make more sense. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-italy-called-wlochy-in-polish/496399/9 "2009-05-14T14:42:24Z")
I assure you, I meant that as a compliment to your analogy-writin’ skillz. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-italy-called-wlochy-in-polish/496399/10 "2009-05-14T15:06:46Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Ah, vlach, I see (although I’m having a hard time picturing the laptop/soccer ball thing). > > I also see now that the Lojban word does in fact include the sequence ‘itali’. The Hungarian name, meanwhile, really doesn’t seem to relate to ‘ital’ or ‘vlach’. But it doesn’t surprise me too much that a somewhat isolated language like Hungarian does its own thing. The Hungarian name is also derived from Vlach. Olaszország = Olasz + ország (country/land). Olasz is a cognate of vlach. Although the derivation is clear when you see it, I’ve always liked the Polish word for “Rome,” which is Rzym. Sounds like “ZHIM” when you say it. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-italy-called-wlochy-in-polish/496399/11 "2009-05-14T15:13:45Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Ah, vlach, I see (although I’m having a hard time picturing the laptop/soccer ball thing). > > I also see now that the Lojban word does in fact include the sequence ‘itali’. The Hungarian name, meanwhile, really doesn’t seem to relate to ‘ital’ or ‘vlach’. But it doesn’t surprise me too much that a somewhat isolated language like Hungarian does its own thing. So you’ve mentioned Hungarian now twice without saying what the word is and so I had to go look it up - _Olaszország_. I know that _ország_ means “land of” or something like that – Hungarian for “Hungary” is _Magyarország_. That leaves _Olasz_ - it’s quite plausible to me that this is related to _Vlach_ or _Wlach_. And, indeed, [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olasz) says it derives from Germanic _walha_, which to me is pretty clearly related to _Wealas_, the Anglo-Saxon word for “stranger,” whence “Welsh.” And, of course, clicking the [link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walha) reveals all: \*Walachia/Wallachians \*Vlach \*Włochy/Wołochowie \*Oláh/Olasz/Vlachok \*Wales, Welsh \*Cornwal \*Wallonia All derive from this root. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-italy-called-wlochy-in-polish/496399/12 "2009-05-14T15:22:03Z")
Hungarian, by the way, is not technically a language isolate, but it has no well-known close relatives. The Uralic or Finno-Ugric language phylum has two main subgroups: Finnic, which includes Finnish, Estonian, and a herd of small languages spoken in European Russia (Mordvin, Mari, Liv, etc.); and Ugric, which includes only Hungarian and two small languages (Khanty and Mansi) spoken just east of the Urals in what is technically Western Siberia. Any relationship they may have to the rest of the languages of Europe (ancestral rather than borrowings) would go waaaay back before Proto-Indo-European, and is only slightly less hypothetical than the Loch Ness Monster. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-italy-called-wlochy-in-polish/496399/13 "2009-05-14T16:42:30Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > and is only slightly less hypothetical than the Loch Ness Monster. Well, then, if it’s such a sure thing, why didn’t you say so!!! 😛 \ ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-italy-called-wlochy-in-polish/496399/14 "2009-05-14T17:09:16Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > …this [list](http://www.geonames.org/IT/other-names-for-italy.html) of foreign names for Italy… Apparently [France](http://www.geonames.org/FR/other-names-for-france.html) is referred to as “Frakkland” in Icelandic and “Frakland” in Faroese. What can I say–the French, they’re [lovers not fighters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frak_(expletive)). Or at least the Vikings thought so. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-italy-called-wlochy-in-polish/496399/15 "2009-05-14T18:54:27Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > “Frakland” in Faroese :rolleyes: It’s called _Egyptian_, [del]dummy[/del] Honored Sir. : ducks and runs like hell : ---
**Author:** ![MarcinCiez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b38774/32.png) [@MarcinCiez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcinCiez)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-italy-called-wlochy-in-polish/496399/16 "2009-05-15T00:04:55Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > I see that ‘włochy’ apparently also means ‘hair’, but I don’t know whether that is just a coincidence. I’ve always known “hair” to be “Włosy” (as in with an S) … which only sounds similar to “Włochy”. It’s kind of simillar to “cat” and “hat”. Anyway, if in some ye-olde-polish hair was ever pronounced as Włosy… then it would be extra funny calling an italian “a hairy wog\*” … and I’ve never heard that exclaimed in Poland. - In Australia this is not so offensive to my greek and italian friends, I don’t know how offensive it is in the US - so if I’m infringing ANY rules, please replace it to the appropriate PC word. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-italy-called-wlochy-in-polish/496399/17 "2009-05-15T13:40:26Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Apparently [France](http://www.geonames.org/FR/other-names-for-france.html) is referred to as “Frakkland” in Icelandic and “Frakland” in Faroese. > > What can I say–the French, they’re [lovers not fighters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frak_(expletive)). Or at least the Vikings thought so. That’s not much different from the other Germanic languages where it’s Frankrike/Frankreich etc.. They all just mean kingdom/land of the French. (Franks)