Place Names · Entry

Warsaw

Polish (origin debated)
“uncertain; a well-known legend credits a fisherman and a mermaid, though linguists favor a personal-name origin”
Where it comes from
Warszawa, popularly linked to a legendary fisherman named Wars, more plausibly from the personal name Warsz
Fun Fact
The popular legend says the city is named for a fisherman, Wars, and a mermaid named Sawa, but historians generally trace the name instead to a medieval landowner called Warsz.
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