The name of Romania (România) comes from the Romanian Român, which is a derivative of the Latin adjective Romanus (Roman). Romanians are a people living in Central and South-Eastern Europe speaking a Romance language.
Etymology of the ethnonym Romanian (român) During the transition from Vulgar Latin to Romanian, there were some phonetical changes that modified romanus into român or rumân. The accusative form romanum was retained. ending "-m" dropped (occurred in all Romance languages) ending "-u" dropped (regular change; in Old Romanian was however still present) "a" → "â" (regular change; vowels before nasal stops turned into "â"/"î") "o" → "u" (regular change; however, in some regions of Romania, the variant with "o" was kept)
A reference to the name Romanian could be contained in the Nibelungenlied (written between 1180 and 1210), where a "Duke Ramunc of Walachia,/with seven hundred vassals, galloped up before her/like flying wild birds men saw them ride". It is argued that "Ramunc" could describe a symbolic figure, representing Romanians. In a document issued about the same period (1190 ?) by King Béla III of Hungary, a count Narad was mentioned as having fought "against the fury of the Bulgarians and ". Hungarian historian Imre Nagy believed to be a mistranscription of , which would be in reference to Romanians in the then recent uprising of the Bulgarians and Vlachs. However, the idea that refers to Romanians is disputed; Hungarian historian Imre Szentpétery, who co-edited the charter with Nagy, believed to be a mistranscription of "Ruthenes", while Romanian historian Alexandru Madgearu believes this passage to be referring to harassment by the Byzantines () to a Hungarian army in the Theme of Bulgaria en route to the Holy Land in the Third Crusade.
In the Renaissance Romanians begin to be mentioned in journey and political reports, providing information about the name they give themselves, about their language, customs and the countries they inhabit. The self-designation of Romanians as Romans is mentioned in some 30 scholarly works as early as the 16th century by mainly Italian humanists travelling in Transylvania, Moldavia and Walachia. Thus, Tranquillo Andronico writes in 1534 that Romanians (Valachi) "now call themselves Romans". In 1532, Francesco della Valle accompanying Governor Aloisio Gritti to Transylvania, Walachia and Moldavia notes that Romanians preserved the name of the Romans (Romani) and "they call themselves in their language Romanians (Romei)". He even cites the sentence "Sti Rominest ?" ("do you speak Romanian ?" for originally Romanian "știi românește ?") Further, this author reports what he could learn from local orthodox monks, that "in the present they call themselves Romanians (Romei)" . Reporting his mission in Transylvania, the Neapolitan Jesuit Ferrante Capeci writes around 1575 that the inhabitants of those Provinces call themselves "Romanians" ("romanesci"), while Pierre Lescalopier, relating his voyage from Venice to Constantinople, notes in 1574 that those inhabiting Walachia, Moldavia and the most part of Transylvania say to be descendants of the Romans, calling their language "romanechte" (French transcription for Romanian românește - Romanian). The Italian Dalmatian historian Johannes Lucius writes in 1666: "But the to-day Walachians, whatever Walachian language they speak, don't call themselves Wlachians or Walachians but Romanians and they boast their origin from the Romans and acknowledge to speak the Roman language".