Rom, with the plural of Roma, means “man” and “husband”, while its feminine form, Romni with the plural of Romnja means “woman” and “wife”. It never means “human being” as some claim, this being the sanskrit “Manuš”.

The Origins

The most likely origin of the name of Rom comes from the cast in India, called Dom. This name deformed itself in Armenia, as Lom and in Europe Rom, Rrom or even Rhom. The Indian retroflexive consonant D evolved over time in a L in Armenia and to Rr, R or Rh in Europe.

Tsigan or Zigeuner

There is strong evidence that the people described in the text the Life of St. George the Athonite as Adsincani, Adsincanoi or Athinganoi around 1050 in the Byzantine Empire were in fact the original Roma. Athinganoi was the name of an Armenian and Syrian Christian manicheist sect deported to the Balkan in the IXth century.

In a large part of Europe, this name stuck. Derivations of it are still in use in many countries: Cigan, Zigeuner, Zingari etc.

Egyptians

Subsequent migrations of Roma in Europe provided a few new appellations. They derive in a large part from the tales these people told the general population upon arrival. In Western Europe, Roma told that they were “pilgrims from Little Egypt”, or even counts, vojevodes or kings from that country. These “Egyptians” origins gave rise to the name Gitans, Gitanos, Gypsies, etc. One has to stress that Roma are totally unrelated to Egypt.

In fact, no Roma migrated through Egypt to Europe and the actual location of “Little Egypt” has been the subject of many speculations. It was most probably the name of a neighbourhood in the Greek city of Modon.

Other Names

In some regions of Europe, notably in France, another name arose: Bohémiens, stemming from the travel documents that some Roma had obtained from the Bohemian king Sigismund. In northern Europe and Scandinavia, Gypsies were and often still are called Tatare. This, in turn derives from the first anti-Gypsy pamphlets, branding them as Ottoman spies.

Travellers

During the first migrations of Roma in Western Europe in the early XVth century, political upheavals forced a non-negligible part of the European population on the road. These people, travelling from city to city in search of work and a pittance, sometimes settled down while some opted a semi-nomadic way of life. These non-Roma are at the origin of the Irish Tinkers, the German Jenishe, and of other non-Roma travellers.

In the German states, Roma were forbidden to settle down and regularly expelled. This forced them to continuously travel. So travelling Roma in Western Europe is the result of repression and discrimination, not a choice. It nevertheless created the myth of the Travelling Roma.

Once in Europe, most Roma settled down immediately, for example in the Balkan, were some Roma settlements can be traced back for almost 1000 years. This is also the case for Roma in the Czech and Slovak regions or even in the Baltic States, where upon arrival in the XVIIth century, most settled down. So, Roma are not nomads or even semi-nomads. Not to say that there are none living so, such as the Sinti in Germany and France or some other groups in the Balkan.

To summarise, the term of “Fahrende”, used in German, or Travellers used in English is the result of a confusion between actual migrant European groups and Roma as well as being the result of a myth, the one of the nomadic Rom.

Sinti and Roma

This survey would not be complete without a mention of the current appellation in some countries of “Sinti and Roma”. Roma are socially organised around their families and, to a lesser extent, groups. There are numerous such groups. The Sinti, Kalderaša, Lovara, Čurara, Mačvaja, Ursara, Xaladytka, Xoraxane to name but a few.  A Rom from each of these groups will first name his group appurtenance and not Rom. Ask someone from any of those groups how he calls his wife or husband, the answer will be “rom” or “romni”. The language of all those groups clearly shows that Romanes is a language with dialectical variations. These group dialectical variations arose as a result of migrations as well as a marker of group identity. So, Sinti are Roma, just a group of them, and many Northern Roma are in fact, Sinti sub-divisions which arose through their migrations.

Thus, the appellation Sinti and Roma does not reflect an effective distinction, but rather a political will.

This terminology arose in Germany, a country in which until recently there was a single Roma group: the Sinti. Later and mostly after World War Two, other Roma came to Germany. German Sinti use “Roma” as the appellation of other foreign Gypsies who have recently migrated to that country.

To complicate matters even more, Sinti who moved to French speaking lands after the Franco-German War of 1870 call themselves “Manouches” from the Romanes manuš – human being. The fact that one of the most famous representative, the musician Django Reinhardt is both considered to be Sinto and Manouche shows the elasticity of such denominations.

All this terminology has induced a great confusion that needs to be sorted out. First, one has to distinguish between Roma (be they Sinti) and travellers of non-Indian origins. Second, either one names all the Roma groups when speaking about Gypsies in general or one accepts a general denomination valid for all. The natural one, since it occurs in all dialects of Romanes is naturally Rom.