---
name: "European Country Names Explained"
subtitle: "One of them means land of the rabbits"
date: 2026-07-29
link: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Pcv2ySMi40"
linkText: "youtube.com"
source: "Kottke.org"
topics: [words-and-humor, history-and-archives]
tags: [etymology, geography, video]
description: "Rob Watts works through where every European country's name came from, including why Germany has so many and what Croatians have to do with neckties."
---

Watts takes the whole map in one pass, and the pleasure is how rarely the answer is grand. One country is named for its rabbits. Germany collected a different name from each neighbour that met a different tribe first. The Dutch turn out not to live where their name says. And the word cravat is a French mangling of *Hrvat* — Croat — after the scarves their cavalry wore.
