Iranic Place Names

The ancestral home of the Iranians was determined by the graphic-analytical method in the area between the upper Desna and the upper Oka rivers with the northern border along the Ugra River. The same method was used to determine the widening of the territory of their settlements in the 2nd millennium BC on the interfluve of the Dnieper and Don (see map below).

Settlement territory of the Iranic tribes in the II millennium BC.

On the map, the boundaries of the ethno-forming areas are marked with red and blue dots. The blue dots also mark the border between the "western" and "eastern" Iranian languages.

The spread of Iranian place names should indicate the places of primary settlements of the Iranian tribes and the paths of their later migrations up to the 2nd millennium AD, which remained unknown to specialists and represents a certain enigma to them. For example, D.Ya. Telegin, associating the Scythians and Sarmatians with the Iranians, cannot find an explanation for the presence of the seven noted Iranian hydronyms in the Belarusian Left Bank along the Desna and Iput rivers (TELEGIN D.Ya. 1993: 69, 72, 76). The explanation for this fact is that nearby there was the ancestral home of the ancestors of modern Ossetians and Yagnobis, and already in historical time, the Kurds, taking part in the campaigns of the Chernihiv princes, remained in the same places for permanent residence

Even a superficial examination of Iranian place names in Eastern Europe will take up a lot of space. Therefore place-names of Ossetian origin in view of their critical importance to the Scythian-Sarmatian issues are dealt separately. While finding other place names of Iranic origin it turned out that one can talk with a high degree of confidence about Kurdish ones which were represented by more or less distinct clusters that could confirm their origin. The remaining cases are probabilistic. The list of place names of Iranic origin is being supplemented and corrected during the research that requires constant adjustment of illustrative maps and it's pretty hard work, which also harms their quality. In this regard, the new additions and removal of random coincidences will be placed in Google My Maps (see below).

At right: The map of Iranic place names in Eastern and Central Europe.

There on the map the place names of Kurdish origin are marked by dark red asterisks. Rosa asterisks refer to Kurdish places having the partial word Maydan or Majdan (about them below). Violet ones – Afghan place names. Green – Ossetic place names.

The common Iranic space is surrounded by yellow. The borders of the Ossetic Urheimat are marked by green, the Kurdish Urheimat is surrounded by red and the Afghan Urheimat is by violet.

During the analysis of opaque place names of Ukraine it turned out that about 250 of them may have Kurdish roots, and most of them are located on the territory of Khmelnitsky, Vinnitsa and Ternopil Regions (48, 44 and 38 units, respectively). Later significant clusters of Kurdish place names were found in Poland. However there are on the Urheimat of the Kurds between the Desna and Oka Rivers and the surrounding areas only a few place names of supposedly Kurdish origin. The following list may have accidental words, but there are quite convincing interpretations:

The village of (v.) Atiusha to the north-east of the town of (t.) Baturyn in Chernihiv Region – Kurd ateş “fire”;

the river (r.) Beriushka, the left tributary (lt) of the Kleven’, the right tributary (rt) of the Seym, rt of the Desna, lt of the Dnieper – Kurd birûsk “lighting, thunderstorm”;

v. Buklata north of the city of Kursk – Kurd bûk "a bride", lat "poor";

r. Esman’, rt of the Ret’, lt of the Desna, r. Esman’, rt of the Kleven’, rt of the Seym, r. Osmon’, rt of the Svapa, rt of the Seym – Kurd e’sman “sky”.

v. Kerbutivka north-west of the town of Konotop – Kurd ker "deaf", bût, pût "an idol"

r. Kharaseya, rt of the Svapa, rt of the Seym and the village of the same name on this river – Kurd xarû “clear”, eşîya “a thing”, xur “swift stream”; com. Ir xur, xor “the sun” and saia “to shine”;

r. Navla, rt of the Desna – Kurd newal “valley”;

r. Nugr', lt of the Oka River on the border with Balochi area – Kurd. niqar, Pers. nogre and other similar Iranian “silver”. Iranian words are considered borrowed from Ar. nugrat "molten gold or silver, molten ore, gold or silver coin" (BLAŽEK VÁCLAV. 2018: 18). A strange borrowing – a word with a wide range of meanings received one specific one that is absent in Arabic. Usually it's the other way around. The way it is. The Buddhist version of the Sogdian language for the name of silver has the word n֓'krt֓'k, according to V. Blazhek, akin to the Tocharian nkiñc "silver". The Tocharian language was formed in the area on the right bank of the Dnieper, in the neighborhood with the areas of Iranian languages (see Iranic Tribes in the Eastern Europe at the Bronze Age), so the name of silver in both Tocharian and Iranian languages ​​have a common origin. The originality of the Iranian words is confirmed by the name of the Nogra River in Balochistan. The similarity of the name of silver in many Iranian languages ​​to Sogdian n֓'krt֓'k is not at all accidental, as V. Blazhek ibid believed, and the Arabic word is borrowed from Persian.

r. Ret’, lt of the Desna, r. Retik, rt of the Ret’ – Kurd rêtin “to pour”;

r. Tim, rt of the Sosna, rt of the Don and the village of Tim in the riverhead и – курд. tim “side”;

t. Zamglai and the Zamglay River, the tributary of the Desna River– Kurd. zong "swamp" and leyi "a strem". There is near these places one of the largest boggy systems of Ukraine.

The area limited by the Seym, Desna, Dnieper, and Psel (possibly Sula) Rivers is defined as the Urheimat of Afghans. Here or nearby there are place names that may be of Iranian origin, but it is not possible to speak specifically about Afghani:

vv. Keleberda on the bank of the Dnieper in Čerkasy Region opposite Kaniv and next to Horishni Plavni – Afg.kālə “a hous”, and berta “back”, but better Kurd. kelî "mountain" and berd "stone".

t. Nezhyn – Afg. nix.an, Pers nišan “a sign, mark”.

r. Tarapunka, rt of the Liutenka, lt of the Psel River can be decoded as "black mushroom". Common Iranic tar(a) means "black" and pongo, ponka, fank does any round object. Earlier the word meant simply "mushroom", and it is present in this sense in many languages (except for Iranic also Lat fungus, Mord panga, etc.), but only Iranic word is well suited to its attribute.

Place names of Iranic origin can also be found in other area of the common Iranic territory but no certain system in their spread is visible. Frequent changes of the population resulted to the loss of old names, or, at best, contributed to their transfer of one object to another. Confidently speaking about Iranic place names is possible only in distinct cases.

There are near the town of Zolotonosha in Cherkasy Region the rivers Irkley, lt of the Dnieper, and the village Irkleyiv on it, and almost opposite another Irkley flows into the Tiasmin, rt of the Dnieper. Both rivers flow in the ravines, so the Kurd erq "a ravine" and leyi – "a stream" suits to local conditions very well. This is the area of the Afghans, but similar words were not found as in Pashto and in other Iranic languages.

r. Obesta, lt of the Kleven', rt of the Seym – Kurd. av (OIr. *ap-) “water, steam, river” and Kurd. estû "neck". Consonance with Avesta is casual.

р. Sev, lt of the Nerussa, lt of the Desna – Yagn. sāw, Os. saw "black" cf. Tara;

р. Tara, lt of the Sev, лlt of the Nerussa, lt of the Desna – common Iranic tar- "dark"; cf Sev.

The bulk of the Iranians migrated to Asia, but place names did not retain clear traces of their movement in this direction. Only a chain of Ossetian toponyms marks the path of the ancestors of modern Ossetians to the North Caucasus. Also, place names of Iranian origin indicate that some part of the Iranians crossed to the right bank of the Dnieper and moved to Podolia.

Kurdish place names in the Right-Bank Ukraine and Poland

Let us briefly consider some place names that have been recorded on that territory. There are in Ternopil and Vinnytsia Regions several settlements having stem juryn, there is also the Jurin River, lt of the Dniester, and this gives us reason to allow the origin of the names of the Kurd. çoran "to flow".

There are in Khmelnytsky Region villages, Baglai, Buglai, and, Baglayky. These names can stem from Kurd. beq "a frog" and leyi "a stream”. Afg. baglaj/buglaj "a heron" fits too, but other place names having probable Afghan origin on the Right Bank Ukraine are not found.

There are in Khmelnitsky and Vinnitsa Regions two rivers Zhvan and yet Zhvanchyk and several villages of the same name. Kurdish jwan means "meeting, appointment". Phonetic match is full, but the motivation of naming is questionable. Kurd. ciwan "beautiful" is suited better. It is also not entirely clear motivation the naming of the Seret River, which has the tributaries of the Seret Left and Siret Right. Kurd. sereta "beginning" does not suits for the river name, it can have Thracian origin (serita) from Indo-European root *ser- “to flow” (YANKO M.P., 1998: 117). There is in the Kurdish language yet word siret "path", which also may be suitable for the name of the river but it is borrowed from Arabic. Apparently, the name Seret is a Trypillian substratum (Tryp. *seret “sripe, strip”, Hebr. סֶרֶט (серет "ribbon").

Some scholars believe the name of the town of Zhmerynka derives from the ethnonym "Cimmerians". M. Vasmer finds this explanation unconvincing (VASMER MAX, 1967, T2, 58), but considering the other facts, it seems plausible, especially because the modern Kurdish language has a lot of words like this place name such as gemaro "siege", qemer "month" etc.

There are in Eastern Europe place names of possible Kurdish origin a lot, but as always random coincidences are not not excluded, so just a few examples with good phonetic correspondences are presented:

v. Baznikivka, to the south-west of Kozeva in Ternopil’ Region – Kurd. baz, “a falcon,” nikul, “a beak”;

v. Balakiry, east of Horodok in Ternopil’ Region – Kurd.bala, “rise, elevation" (cf about water) ;

v. Bashuky, at the sources of the Horyn' River – Kurd.başok, “hawk”;

v.v. Velyki and Mali Dederkaly on the outskirts of Kremenec’ in Ternopil’ Region – Kurd. dediri, “a tramp,” kal, “old”;

v. Dzhulynka, to the north-east of Bershad’ in Vinnytsa Region – Kurd. colan “cradle”, "swing";

v.Hermakivka (Germakivka), southeast of Borščev in Ternopil’ Region – Kurd. germik, “warm place”;

v. Kalaharivka (Kalagarivka), to the south-east of Hrymajliv in Ternopil’ Region – Kurd. qal, "to kindle,” agir, “a flame”;

v. Kylykiyiv, to the north-east of Slavuty in Khmel’nyc’kyj Region – Kurd. kēlak “side”, “bank”;

v. Kokutkivci to the north-west of Ternopil’ – Kurd. ko, “curve,”kutek “cudgel;”

v. Mikhyrinci to north-east of Volochys’k – Kurd. mexer “ruins”;

v. Mukhariv to the east of the town of Novohrad-Volynski – Kurd. mû “wool, hair”, xarû “clean, pure”;

v. Palashivka to the west of Čortkiv in Ternopil’ Region – Kurd. pelaş, “straw”;

v. Tauriv to the west of Ternopil’ – Kurd. tawer, “rock;”

The undoubted presence of the Ancient Kurds on the Right Bank Ukraine immediately raises the question of which way they got there. We may assume keeping in mind the general movement of the Iranic tribes from the territory of their initial settlement between the Dnieper and the Don to the south and south-east that the ancestors of the Kurds came to the Azov steppes, and from there crossed the Dnieper and later moved to the northwest, displacing previous settlers that is the Thracians to the south-west, and the Bulgars – to the west. The band of Kurdish settlements from Haysyn and further along the Dniester River to the west can mark this path, but the presence of place names of Kurdish origin in Chernihiv, Kyiv, and Zhytomyr Regions gives reason to consider another option.

The Kurdish settlements at their Urheimat are stretching along the Desna River, so we may assume that their ancestors went down to the Dnieper, crossed it, and headed westward. This moving could last a long time, and some of the migrants could stay at intermediate stands, which explains the presence of Kurdish place names in the area of the Anglo-Saxons. We can talk more or less confident about such Kurdish place names which can mark the resettlement route of Kurds:

t. Berdychiv in Zhytomyr Region – the most plausible interpretation, based on the Kurdish language: Kurd. berd "stone", çew "sand" is not only well suited phonetically, but also correspond to the peculiarity of the terrain around the town where for long are mined sand and gravel, there are in the town several companies of the stone processing industry;

v. Byshiv in Makariv distruict of Kiev Region – Kuкd bişav “solution”, bişêv “to liquefy”;

v. Chemkiv on the left bank of the Pripyat' near the mouth – Kurd çem “river”, kew “blue”;

v. Devoshin to the northwest of Ovruch – Kurd. dewa “medicine”, şîn “misfortune”;

v. Kharleivka to the west of the station Popelnia in Zhytomyr Region – Kurd xar “crooked”, leyi “rivulet, stream”;

v. Kichkiry to the south of Radomyshl in Zhytomyr Region – Kurd keç “a daugther”, kerî “a part”;

v. Pyrky to the north of the mouth of the Prypiat – Kurd. pir “bridge”, -ki – the suffix of the relative adjective;

v. Singury to the south of Zhytomyr (see also above Shengury) – Kurd. sing "thistle" , ûre "seeds";

v. Termakhivka to the north-west of Ivankiv in Kyiv Region – Kurd germ “warm”, term, “body, corpse”, ax, “ground”.

Having populated Podolia, the Iranians remained here for several centuries, but over time they settled in a fairly large area. A strip of Kurdish place names along the Dniester and further such as Guncha, Naraevka, Dzhulinka, Berdinovo may indicate that part of the Iranians moved simultaneously with the Scythians-Bulgars in the direction of the Dnieper, displacing the remains of the Thracians beyond the Dniester, and further into the Black Sea steppes. Among the Scythian names, there are quite often those that lend themselves well to deciphering by means of the Kurdish language. In the Northern Black Sea region, they, along with other Iranian tribes, became known in history as the Cimmerians. However, there is evidence that the Cimmerians also entered Asia Minor through the Balkans. Toponymy gives reason to talk about the presence of Kurds in Hungary.

At right: Kurdish place names in Hungary and the Balkans.

Dévaványa, a town in northern Békés county – Kurd. dêw "Daeva, evil spirit", wanî "similar, like".

Kecel, a town in Bács-Kiskun county – Kurd. keçel "bald".

Felgyö, a village in Csongrád county – Kurd. felg "curl".

Senta, a tow in the Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia – Kurd. semt 1. "side", 2. "district".

Some of the decryptions are quite convincing, so searches for Kurdish place names in neighboring countries were carried out. They were found in Ukraine, Serbia and Bulgaria and generally formed a chain leading from Western Ukraine through the Balkans towards the Bosphorus. This arrangement could mark the path of the Kurds to Asia Minor:

Temerin, a town in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. – Kurd. temirin 1. "go out", 2. "put out".

Pančevo, is a city, the administrative center of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia – Kurd. penc "hand".

Čačak, a city, the administrative center of the Moravica District, Serbia – Kurd. çê "good, best", çak "good".

Niš, a city, the administrative center of the Nišava District? Serbia – Kurd. niș "sediment", av "water".

Мездра, город во Врачанской области, Болгария – курд. mezre "посев, поле".

Хисаря, город в Пловдивской области, Болгария – курд. xisar "потеря, убыток".

Хасково, город в Болгарии – курд. hesk "черпак".

Визе, город в провинции Кыркларели, Турция – курд. "местоположение, установление".

Cimmerian place Names in Poland

Another large group of Cimmerians migrated northwestward to what is now Poland and further to northern Germany (see the section Cimbri). However, some of them remained in Poland and dwelled here until the arrival of the Slavs.

Many villages in Ukraine and even more in Poland have a name Maydan (Majdan) or contain it. Experts believe that it is borrowed from the Türkic languages (MELNYCHUK O.S. 1989: 361), but in the etymological dictionary of the Türkic languages ​​such a word is not considered, obviously taken as a loan word (SEVORTIAN E.V. 2003. V. 7). At the same time, the etymological dictionary of the Kurdish language indicates that Kurd. maydān "area", "open space" comes from the Arabic maydān "square", "arena" (TSABOLOV R.L., 2001, V. I: 629-630). However, there is reason to believe that the Arabic word itself is a Persian loan word. Words derived from Old-Ir. *maitana-/ *maiθana- "place of residence, dwelling" are present in some Iranian languages (EDELMAN D.I. 2015, V. 5: 153). As the study of the toponymy of different origins shows, words in this sense often become the name of a settlement and according to V.A. Livshits OIr *maitāna could give Pers. maidān developing meaning from "place, settlement" to "area" (ibid, 155). It is also assumed that some words of the Iranian languages of the same root could mean "place of battle" (ibid, 157). On the other hand, it is difficult to assume that has spread in many languages, the Arabic word could form the basis of no less than forty Polish place names because in the historical perspective it is not visible that some of its numerous carriers (Turks or even Ukrainians) spread widely throughout Poland. Thus, we have to admit that a word similar to *maiθana- was present in the Cimmerian language and it was used by Cimmerians for calling their settlements. Over time, their names have changed somewhat under the influence of the word maydan, which has become popular in many languages. It should also be borne in mind that due to its prevalence, not all settlements of such a name may have the Iranian origin. It means not only "area", but also "lowland surrounded by forest" in Ukrainian, and in Russian "forest glade".

While analyzing place names of southeastern corner of Poland (namely in the Lublin province) a small cluster of names easily decrypted using the Kurdish language was found in a small area. These are the names of Polish settlements:

Narol, a town in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in Lubaczów County – Kurd. nar "fire", ol 1. "group, army", 2."religion, confession".

Paary, a village in the Gmina Susiec, within Tomaszów Lubelski County, Lublin Voivodeship – Kurd. pa "level", ar "fire".

Rebizanty, a village in two kilometers from Paary – Kurd. reb "god", zend "hand".

Pardysówka, a part of the town of Józefów in Biłgoraj County, Lublin Voivodeship – Kurd. perde "curtain", subah "morning, dawn".

As you can see, all the names of the villages are connected either with god or with fire or the sun. Obviously, they all have religious meaning. Village chain stretched from the southeast to the northwest at a distance of twenty kilometers between two large forests. The town Bilgoraj is a little away from them and its name could be coined by Kurd. belg "a leaf" and semantically close to it ray "a root". Far around the area found other place names which could be decrypted by means of Kurdish. It can not be accidental. Obviously, pagan temples have been focused in this area, where at certain times the local population came together to perform religious rites. The grounds for such an assumption given numerous names of villages nearest neighborhood containing the word maydan (Majdan, Majdanek, Majdan-Gurny, Majdan-Wielki, Majdan-Sopocki, Majdan-Nepryski etc.)

Large clusters of Kurdish place names are located quite far from the Carpathian Mountains but it is interesting that the name of the Carpathian Mountains Beskydy can be decrypted just by means of the Kurdish language. Beskid – a system of ridges in the northern outer strip of the Carpathians. They are located on the border of Poland and Czechoslovakia and Ukraine, between the Morava River in the west and the headwaters of the San River in the east. The mountain slopes are covered with beech and fir forests, alpine meadows are spread on the treeless peaks. There are in Beskids convenient passes at the altitude of 500-1000 meters, which were used in the most ancient times.

The Ukrainian language has very much similar words with different but semantically similar senses. The very mountain range is called Beskіdi, Bieszczady, Bieszczady, but there are also words meaning "gulf", "rock", "mountain", "mountain range" – besked, besket, beskeda, beshket, beskeddya etc. Under the influence of Ukrainian these mountains are called Polish beskid, beszczad, but formerly known as Bieszczad, and the Polish beskid has meaning "mountain range, mountains covered with forests". Similar words in different variants with similar senses are also present in the Slovak and Czech languages. The generally accepted etymological interpretation of these words is absent. Most often they are associated with the Alb. (Thrak.) bejške "mountain pasture", "a series of high mountains", but the formant – (k)ed is not clear. Unsuccessful attempts to find the origins of the word in the Germanic languages were also made (see from ar FASMER or MELNYCHUK).

However, the Iranic languages are best suited for decoding these words: beš / biš "forest" and gada / ğada/qät "a tree". Though, the only word beš was found in the Kurdish language, but the words gada/ğada/qät are present in Ossetian, Yagnob, Pashto and Persian closely akin to the Kurdish language, so it could exist in Kurdish, but disappeared. Both offered for decoding words are related in meaning, but at first glance are not well suited for the name of the mountain. However, this is not the case. In the closely related languages, the word meaning mountain can mean also either the forest or tree, or tree and forest (eg Serb. gora 1. "forest", 2. "mountain", Bulg. gora "forest"). Thus, Old Kurdish *bešqät could mean "mountain covered with trees", what is corresponded with the meaning of some modern Slavic words of this semantic family. If words related to the words gada / ğada / qät in the Kurdish language never existed, then it is possible to take into account the Kurd. qad "boundary, limit, border".

As mentioned, some of the Cimmerians migrated to Northern Germany. This path is marked among others by the following place names:

Czempisz, a village in Kalisz County, Greater Poland Voivodeship – Kurd. çem "a river", piş "beyond".

Kalisz, the county administrative center of Greater Poland Voivodeship – Kurd. keleş "nice".

Czempiń, a town in Kościan County, Greater Poland Voivodeship – Kurd. çem "a river", pin "a bottom".

Kaława, a village in Międzyrzecz County, Lubusz Voivodeship – Kurd. kelawe "ruins".

Cimmerian place names in Germany and Denmark

From Poland the chain of Cimmerian place names runs to Germany and stretches through the north-eastern its part to Jutland towards:

Rauen,a municipality in the Oder-Spree district, Brandenburg – Kurd. rewîn "flame".

Germendorf, a part of Oranienburg, a town in the district of Oberhavel in northern Brandenburg – Kurd. girmîn "thunder, rumbling".

Gerdshagen a municipality in the Prignitz district, Brandenburg – Kurd. gerd "great".

Demen a municipality in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern – Kurd. deman "rapid, quick".

Germakehre, a street in the municipality of Ellerau in Schleswig-Holstein – Kurd germ "warm", germ kirin "to warm".

Reaching Jutland, the Cimmerians settled here for a long time, and after a few hundred years, they have become known in Western Europe under the name of the Cimbri and the country inhabited by them was called Himmerland. Their presence in the Jutland is noted by the following place names:

Agger, a town in north-west Denmark – Kurd. ax "earth", ger "valley".

Asferg, a town to south-east of Hobro – Kurd. asê "fortified", ferq "top" or hasp "horse", erq "trench".

Asp, a town near Holatebro – Kurd. hasp "horse".

Names Gundersted, Gunderup and similar have a word part identical with Kurd. gund "village".

Hemmet, a town in Region Nordjylland – Kurd. h'îm "base, bed", mat "smooth, flat".

Hobro, a town in west Denmark – Kurd. xob "beautiful", ro 1. "a river", 2. "sun".

Holstebro, the main town in Holstebro Municipality – Kurd. xol "treshing", ştab "quick", ro "a river".

Ribe, a town in south-west Denmark – Kurd. reb "god".

Sevel, a town – Kurd. sêwel "a puppy".

Tander, a locality in east Denmark – Kurd. tan "base", der "place".

Tim, a town in west Denmark – Kurd. tîm "side".

Tønder, a town – Kurd. tan "base", der "place".

From Jutland, the Cimbri apparently pressed by the Germans moving from Scandinavia, migrated in search of free land for settlement to the south of Germany. Part of their way to mark the following place names:

Gerdau, a municipality in the district of Uelzen, Lower Saxony – Kurd gerd "great".

Warberg, a municipality in the district of Helmstedt, Lower Saxony – Kurd. war, wer "place".

Dederstedt, a village in the Mansfeld-Südharz district, Saxony-Anhalt – Kurd dederi "a vagabond".

Simildenstraße, a street in Leipzig – Kurd simil "ear of a plant", de'n "threshed grain".

Raschau, a municipality Raschau-Markersbach, Saxony – Kurd. reş "black", av "water".

Tirschendorf, a village in the Vogtlandkreis district, Saxony – Kurd tirş "sour".

Tirschenreuth, a village in Bavaria – Kurd tirş "sour".

Lam, a municipality in the district of Cham in Bavaria – Kurd. lam "leaf".

Reaching Bavaria, the Cimbri together with Teutons and other Germanic tribes made several attempts to get to Italy through Austria and southern France, but were rebuffed by the Romans. After that, they moved towards Belgium, founding their settlements along the Rhine and in the immediate vicinity. The names of some of them are listed below.

Berzhausen, a municipality in the district of Altenkirchen, Rhineland-Palatinate – Kurd. berz "high".

Betelsdorf (now Berzdorf), a primordial name of the part of the city of Wesseling in North Rhine-Westphalia – Kurd betil "a warrior, hero".

Gerderhahn, a locality in the town of Erkelenz Rhineland – Kurd gerd "great", han "approval".

Germersheim, a town in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate – Kurd germ "warm".

Gunderath, a municipality in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate – Kurd. gund "village", êretî "carelessness, heedlessness".

Keltern, a town in the district of Enz in Baden-Württemberg – Kurd kelte "oblique, slant, sloping".

Megezerweg, a street in the town of Rottenburg in Baden-Württemberg – Kurd megez "mosquito".

Merchweiler, a municipality in the district of Neunkirchen, Saarland – Kurd merx "fir-tree".

Merching, a municipality in the district of Aichach-Friedberg in Bavaria – Kurd merx "fir-tree".

Merzig, the capital of the district Merzig-Wadern, in Saarland – Kurd merziq "swamp, bog".

Mecher, a village in the commune of Lac de la Haute-Sûre, in Luxembourg – Kurd mexer "ruins".

Mechernich, a town in the district of Euskirchen in North Rhine-Westphalia, – Kurd mexer "ruins", nik "actual".

Throtmanni, the primordial name of the city of Dortmund in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia – Kurd tort "sediment, dregs", man "left, remained"

Saarland, a federal state (or Bundesland) of Germany – Kurd sa "some more", ar "fire".

Cimmerian place names in Austria, France, and Belgium

In the course of their long trips in search of free land to settle, the Cimbri founded dozens of settlements in Austria, France, Belgium, that are well deciphered with the help of the Kurdish language. Most of them are discussed in the section Cimbri). Here we give only a few examples:

Alès, a commune in the Gard department in the Occitanie region in southern France – Kurd. aleş "brush-wood".

Aspach-le-Haut, new commune Aspach-Michelbac in north-eastern France – Kurd. hesp "horse", ax "earth, soi;".

Bussang, a commune in the Vosges department in northeastern France. – Kurd. bûz "ice", seng "stone". Cf. Sarlat.

Dijon, a city, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département, France – Kurd. dijûn "evil".

Merchtem, a municipality in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant – Kurd merx "fir-tree", tem "smoke".

Meyrin, a municipality of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland – Kurd. mey "cane, rush", rijîn "to pour".

Meyrueis, a commune in the Lozère département, France – Kurd. mey "cane, rush", rua "animal".

Mecher, a village in the commune of Lac de la Haute-Sûre, Luxembourg – курд. mexer "ruins".

Mol, a municipality in the Belgian province of Antwerp – Kurd. mal "home, family".

Murau, a town in the western part of the Austrian federal state of Styria – Kurd. mûr "block, log" (maybe better mar "snake"), av "water".

Najac, a commune in the Aveyron department, France. – Kurd. neçak "bad", "unkind".

Sarlat, resort area in the department of Corrèze, France – Kurd. sar "cold", wehşî "rock".

Sarlat-la-Canéda,a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France – Kurd. sar "cold", wehşî "rock".

Spa, a municipality in the the Belgian province of Liège – Kurd spî "white", spahî "cleanness, beauty.

Vichy, a city in the Allier department of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France – Kurd. wehşî "wildness".

Vindobona, Latin name of Vienna – Kurd. windabûn "loss, waste, disappearance".

Wavre, a city in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant, – Kurd. warge "site, camp".

Accumulation of Kurdish place names in Belgium and in the neighboring areas of Germany should have some explanation. Ancient historians believed that the Belgae had mixed Germanic-Celtic origin, that is, they could not take them either to the Germans or to the Celts. Place names and decoding names of the Belgians via Kurd. belg "leaf" gives grounds to assume that the Belgae were some Kurdish tribe.

Of particular note is that the names of these European rivers can be decrypted using the Kurdish language:

Danube (Ger. Donau) – Kurd. don "melted fat", av "water". PIE *dā had sense "liquid", "fat", "flowing water" (Av. dāhnu "river", Ind. dānu "oozing fluid", Arm. tamuk "wet", Gr. δημός "human or animal fat", Alb. dhjamë "fat, bacon", Ger. Ton "clay").

Neckar, a river, rt of the Rhine – Kurd. niqar "silver".

Wavre, a town in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant – Kurd warge "site, camp".

Toponymy data suggests that the history of the Kurdish people is very complex. To restore it, even in general terms, is impossible without written evidence, which nevertheless can be interpreted using toponyms. In particular, a small but dense cluster of place names, which is deciphered using the Kurdish language, is located on the Taman Peninsula:

Place names show that the history of the Kurdish people is very complex. It is impossible to restore it at least in general terms without written evidence, which can still be interpreted using toponyms. Having crossed the Bosphorus, we moved further adhering to the coast of the sea:

Derbent – Kurd. der "gorge, canyon", bend "hedge, dam";

Manyas – Kurd. manaş "hindering, reluctant"

Sart – Kurd. sard "cold, chilly";

Germencik – Kurd. germ "warm";

Kaş – Kurd. kaş "moumtain road";

Tekeli – Kurd. tekil "mix, blend";

Cilikia, a geo-cultural region – Kurd. kēlak "side, bank";

Taurus Mountains, a mountain complex in southern Turkey – Kurd. tawer "rock".

Judging by the place names, the Cimmerians-Kurds reached Armenia and inhabiteed the nearest places. However, some of them moved north along the Black Sea coast and reached the Taman Peninsula. In ancient times, the Greek city of Hermonassa (Ἑρμώνασσα) was located on the зeninsula, but the local population was dominated by Zikhs (Kurd. zîx "brave", "good", strong"). Later, the Tmutarakan principality existed here, the name of which is well deciphered using the Kurdish language: Kurd. tarî "dark" (corresponds to the meaning of the first part of the name in Slavic tmu), kanî "source, spring". In the same region, there are other place names that are deciphered using the Kurdish language:

Dzhemete, a town in the Anapsky district of the Krasnodar Kray – Kurd. jêmêtin "suck out".

Dzhiginka, a village in the municipality of Anapa, Krasnodar Krai – Kurd. cihê "separate", hinek "a little, few".

Gostagayevskaya, a stanitsa (village) in the municipality of Anapa, Krasnodar Krai – Kurd. hosta "nap, slumber", hay "knowledge".

Taman', a rural locality (a stanitsa) in Temryuksky District of Krasnodar Krai, – Kurd. tam "house", anî "face, front".

The Tmutarakan prince Mstislav Vladimirovich in 1024 became the prince of Chernihiv and resettled many families of the steppe peoples to the Seversk land, among whom were the Zikh-Kurds. Their presence in those places confirms the place names. On the left bank of the Dnieper above Kyiv stood the chronicled city of Tmutarakan, and the names of many settlements of Left-Bank Ukraine and the nearest regions of Russia are deciphered using the Kurdish language.

Long presence of Cimmerian Kurds on Ukraine is also confirmed by Slavic-Iranian Language Connections. Words of Kurdish origin in the Ukrainian language, which have no correspondence in the other Slavic languages, evidence that some part of the Kurds remained on Ukrainian territory until Slavs arrived here.

According to the chronicles, the non-Slavic population often "took charge" in Chernihiv Principality, they also participated in the campaigns of local princes to Smolensk and Kyiv (ISTORIYA SSSR. 1966: 593). The name of the city of Kimry in the Tver Region of Russia indicates that the Cimmerians went far beyond Moscow in their campaigns. The name of the disappeared village of Kimborovo near the modern village of Murigino testifies to the movement of the Cimmerians to the city of Smolensk. From here they turned west and through Belarus reached Lithuania, leaving traces of their movement in the chain of place names.