The name ofEstonia (Estonian:Eesti[ˈeˑstʲi]ⓘ) has a long and complex history. It has been connected toAesti, first mentioned byTacitus around AD 98. The name's modern geographical meaning comes fromEistland,Estia andHestia in themedieval Scandinavian sources. Estonians adopted it as anendonym only in the mid-19th century.
The name has a complex history extending over two thousand years, and there is little consensus on which places and peoples it has referred to at different periods.[1]Roman historianTacitus in hisGermania (ca. AD 98), mentionedAestiorum gentes "Aestian tribes", and some historians believe that he was directly referring toBalts while others have proposed that the name applied to the whole Eastern Baltic.[2] The word Aesti mentioned by Tacitus might derive fromLatinAestuarii meaning "Estuary Dwellers".[3] Later geographically vague mentions includeAesti byJordanes from the 6th century andAisti byEinhard from the early 7th century. The last mention generally considered to be applying primarily to the southern parts of the Eastern-Baltic isEastlanda in a description ofWulfstan’s travels from the 9th century.[4] In the following centuries, views of the Eastern Baltic became more complex, and in the 11th century,Adam of Bremen mentions three islands, withAestland being the northernmost.[5]
Scandinavian sagas[6] and theViking runestones[7][page needed] referring toEistland were the earliest sources to use the name in its modern meaning. The sagas were composed in the 13th century on the basis of earlier oral tradition by historians likeSnorri Sturluson. Estonia appears asAistland inGutasaga and asEistland inYnglinga saga,Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar,Haralds saga hárfagra, andÖrvar-Odds saga.[8] Snorri Sturluson retells in theYnglinga saga a story about a semi-legendary Swedish warrior kingIngvar Harra who often spent time patrolling the shores of his kingdom fighting off Danes and Estonian vikings (Víkingr frá Eistland).[9]
In present-day Sweden, theFrugården runestone from the 11th century mentionsEstlatum "Estonian lands".[10] Many other runestones in Sweden indicate that at the time there were close contacts with Estonia, because of the frequent references therein to personal names such asÆistfari ("traveller to Estonia"),Æistulfr ("Wolf of Estonians") and Æistr ("Estonian").[11][page needed] The toponymEstland/Eistland has been connected toOld Scandinavianeist,austr ("the east"), forming part ofAustrvegr, or even sometimes identical with it.[12]
The first mostly reliable chronicle data comes fromGesta Danorum by the 12th century historianSaxo Grammaticus, referring to Estonia asHestia,Estia and its people asEstonum.[13][14] The 12th century Arab geographeral-Idrisi from Sicily, who presumably had help of some informant atJutland in Denmark, describesAstalānda, probably referring to Estonia and theLivonian regions of Latvia.[15] From Scandinavian the name spread to German and later, following the rise of the Catholic Church, reached Latin, withHenry of Latvia in hisHeinrici Cronicon Lyvoniae (ca. AD 1229) naming the regionEstonia and its inhabitantsEstones.[16][17]
The endonymmaarahvas, literally meaning "land people" or "country folk", was used up until the mid-19th century.[18] Its origins are unclear; there is a hypothesis of it originating from the prehistoric period, but no supporting evidence has been found. Another proposed explanation relates to its being a medieval loan-translation from GermanLandvolk.[17][18][19] Although the name had been used earlier,Johann Voldemar Jannsen played a major role in popularisation ofEesti rahvas "Estonian people" among the Estonians themselves, during theEstonian national awakening.[20] The first issue of his newspaperPerno Postimees in 1857 started with"Terre, armas Eesti rahwas!" meaning "Hello, dear Estonian people!".[21]
Esthonia was a common alternativeEnglish spelling. In 1922, in response to a letter by Estonian diplomatOskar Kallas raising the issue, theRoyal Geographical Society agreed that the correct spelling wasEstonia. Formal adoption took place at the government level only in 1926, with the United Kingdom and United States then adopting the spellingEstonia. In the same year this spelling was officially endorsed by the Estonian government, alongsideEstonie in French, andEstland in German, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, and Swedish.[22]
In theFinnish language the neighbouring country Estonia is known asViro, a toponym corresponding to the north Estonian region ofVirumaa. Similarly, the correspondingLatvian language wordIgaunija is thought to be related to the late medievalUgandi County in the neighbouring southeastern region of Estonia.
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