Ethnonym Dictionary
The names given to Albanian-speaking peoples across history — by themselves and by others. Each ethnonym carries layers of meaning, politics, and identity.
12
Documented ethnonyms
7
Languages of origin
2,500+
Years of attestation
4
Community designations
What's in a Name?
The Albanian diaspora communities have been called by dozens of names across six centuries and as many languages. Some names are self-designations of pride; others were imposed by outsiders, sometimes with contempt. Understanding these names — their origins, their usage, and their evolution — is fundamental to tracing the Arbër identity across time and space.
Entry categories
12 entries
The oldest attested self-designation of the Albanian people. Arbër (or Arbën in northern dialects) referred to the people and their territory (Arbëria) before the Ottoman conquest. It survives in the names of all four diaspora communities.
The modern Albanian endonym, used in Albania and Kosovo today. It gradually replaced Arbër as the primary self-designation within Albania proper during and after the Ottoman period, though the diaspora communities retained the older Arbër forms.
The Greek and Latin exonym from which the English 'Albanian' derives. First used by Byzantine chroniclers to describe a people and region in what is now central Albania. It became the standard international designation for the Albanian people.
The Greek adaptation of Arbën/Arbër, used to designate the Albanian-speaking communities of Greece. The term is both a self-designation and an exonym, used by the community itself and by Greek society.
The self-designation of the Albanian communities of southern Italy. Derived directly from Arbër with the Albanian suffix -eshë (denoting origin or belonging). The Arbëreshë are the only diaspora community to have maintained the Albanian language in continuous use to the present day.
The South Slavic adaptation of Arbën, used for the Albanian community near Zadar, Croatia. The term follows the same phonological pattern as the Greek 'Arvanites' — a local language's rendering of the Albanian self-designation.
The Ottoman Turkish and Balkan term for Albanians, derived through a chain of phonological adaptations from the Albanian self-designation. Used throughout the Ottoman Empire to refer to Albanian soldiers, administrators, and settlers.
The Venetian term for Albanian and Arvanite light cavalry in European military service. While not an ethnonym in the strict sense, 'stradioti' became so closely associated with Albanian soldiers that it functioned as a quasi-ethnic designation in 15th–16th century European sources.
The Byzantine Greek form of the Albanian self-designation, used by Byzantine chroniclers from the 11th century. It is the earliest externally recorded name for Albanian-speaking peoples and the direct ancestor of the modern Greek 'Arvanites'. Scholars treat it as the pivotal link between the medieval Albanian self-designation and all subsequent exonyms.
The Italian and Venetian exonym for Albanians, used extensively in Venetian administrative, military, and commercial records. As Venice was the dominant maritime power in the eastern Adriatic and Aegean, Venetian usage of 'Albanesi' shaped how Albanian diaspora communities were recorded across the Mediterranean world. The term is the direct ancestor of the English 'Albanian'.
The Western European scholarly and diplomatic rendering of the Albanian self-designation 'Shqiptar', used primarily in German, French, and Austrian sources during the 18th and 19th centuries. It appears in Enlightenment-era ethnographic literature and Habsburg administrative records, representing the first sustained Western European engagement with the Albanian endonym rather than the Latin exonym 'Albanenses'.
A regional designation applied to the inhabitants of Epirus — the mountainous region straddling modern northwestern Greece and southern Albania — used from antiquity through the 19th century. In the medieval and early modern periods, 'Epirotes' was frequently applied to Albanian-speaking populations of the region, creating significant overlap with 'Arbanitai' and 'Albanoi' in Byzantine and Western sources. The term is important for understanding how Albanian-speaking communities were categorised before ethnic nationalism imposed clearer boundaries.
The Naming Chain
All diaspora community names derive from a single Albanian root through successive phonological adaptations across languages:
Arbën / Arbër
Albanian (original)
Arbanitai
Byzantine Greek
Arvanites
Modern Greek
Arbanasi
South Slavic
Arnavut / Arnaut
Turkish / Balkan
The Arbëreshë self-designation follows a parallel path: Arbër + Albanian suffix -eshë → Arbëreshë, without passing through Greek or Slavic intermediaries.
Explore the Communities
Each ethnonym points to a living community with its own history, language, and traditions.