Names of the Serbs and Serbia


Names of the Serbs and Serbia are terms and other designations referring to general terminology and nomenclature on the Serbs and Serbia. Throughout history, various endonyms and exonyms have been used in reference to ethnic Serbs and their lands. Basic terms, used in Serbian language, were introduced via classical languages into other languages, including English. The process of interlingual transmission began during the early medieval period, and continued up to the modern times, being finalized in major international languages at the beginning of the 20th century.

Autonym

The earliest found mention of the Serbs is from Einhard's Royal Frankish Annals, written in 822, when prince Ljudevit went from his seat at Sisak to the Serbs, with Einhard mentioning "the Serbs, a people that is said to hold a large part of Dalmatia". De Administrando Imperio, written by Constantine VII in the mid-10th century, tells of the early history of the Serbs, whose polity he called "Serblia", and whose ruler he called "Prince of the Serbs". He mentions White Serbia. Furthermore, he says that the town of Servia received its name from the Serbs who once lived there.
According to the Tale of Bygone Years, the first Russian chronicle, Serbs are among the first five Slav peoples who were enumerated by their names. Al-Masudi called them Sarabin. In Latin, it was transcribed as Sorabi, Serbi, Serbii, Serbli, Surbi, Seruiani, Serviani etc.

Theories

;Etymological origin
;Antique origin
Some scholars argue that the Serb ethnonym is antique. According to this theory, it is connected to the mentions of Tacitus in 50 AD, Pliny the Elder in 77 AD and Ptolemy in his Geography 2nd century AD, of the Sarmatian tribe of Serboi of the North Caucasus and Lower Volga. One theory is that it is of ultimately Iranian origin. Oleg Trubachyov derived it from Indo-Aryan *sar- and *bai-.
;Sporoi

Rascia

The term "Rascia", with several variants, was used as an exonym for Serbia in Latin sources since the late 12th century, along with other names such as Servia, Dalmatia and Slavonia. It was derived from the town of Ras, a royal estate, and seat of an eparchy. The first attestation is in a charter from Kotor dated to 1186, in which Stefan Nemanja, the Grand Prince, is mentioned as "župan of Rascia". It was one of the common names for Serbia in western sources, often in conjunction with Serbia. "Rascia" was never used in Byzantine works.
The term is often used in modern historiography to refer to the medieval "Serbian hinterland" or "inner Serbia", that is, the inland territories in relation to the maritime principalities at the Adriatic. The term is attested since the late 12th century, but in historiography, the early medieval Serbian Principality is sometimes also called Raška, erroneously. In DAI, the Serbian hinterland is called "baptized Serbia", while Ras is only mentioned as a border town. The misconceptions arose from the much later Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja, that projected later terminology on earlier periods. In historical reality of the early medieval period, the city of Ras became a local administrative center only in 970-975, when Byzantines created a short-lived Catepanate of Ras. In 1019, the Eparchy of Ras was organized, with jurisdiction over eastern parts of inner Serbia, and thus the foundation was laid for gradual emergence of a regional name, derived from Ras. Retaking the city of Ras from Byzantines, local Serbian rulers made it one of their main seats, and since it was also a seat of a local bishop of Ras, it gradually became the most important center of inner Serbia. By the end of the 12th century, term Raška became common designation for central parts of inner Serbia, and it was also used to designate the state centered in that region, namely the Serbian state of the Nemanjić dynasty.
Between the 15th and 18th centuries, the term was used to designate the southern Pannonian Plain inhabited by Serbs, or "Rascians", who had settled there following the Ottoman conquests and Great Serb migrations.

Other

;Medieval
;Early modern
Because of a confusion of ethnicity/nationality with religious affiliation, many authors from historic times referred to and recorded Serbs by the following names:
;Male given names
Srba, Srbislav, Srbivoje, Srbko, Srboje, Srbomir, Srborad, Srbomil, Srboljub, Srbobran.
;Female given names
Srbijanka, Srbinka, and others.
;Surnames
Srbinac, Srbinić, Srbinov, Srbinovac, Srbinović, Srbinovski, Srbić, Srbović, Srbljanović, Srbljanin, Srbljak, Srpčić, Serban, and others.

Toponomy

Connected to Serbs

;Balkans
;West Slavic
Historical renderings in other languages:
Modern renderings in other languages: