The History of the Romani more popularly known as the Gypsy.

Neither name however is a correct description of their origin. They are neither Romanian, nor Egyptian, at least not originally.

The name Gypsy is considered derogatory, but only among certain Family Clans. It’s actually a very confusing and nuanced issue. The name Gypsy was given to some of the travellers in the places their caravans visited because it was assumed by their hosts that they were Egyptian. This is much like assuming all pale skinned people visiting you come from England, and giving them some slanderous name based on it. The name Romani was thrust upon them in the very same way, by an assumption of origin, mostly. They did not originate in Egypt, Rome, or Romania.

• This is not to say that there are not modern Egyptian, Roman, and Romanian Family clans of the people called Gypsy, or Romani.

Where did the Name Gypsy originate ?

The name was first used by either Shakespeare, or Edmund Spenser in 1514 to describe the Travellers in modern literature. This is only the first recorded use of it in common writing of modern times though. The word Gypsy actually originates from the English using a Greek word Aigyptioi which literally means Egypt. The Greek people in the 1100’s CE however called them by a different name “Athinganoi” meaning the “Untouchables”. It became common for them to use when the travellers began arriving in the Byzantine empire. Later a variation of Aigyptoi was used by the Romans this variation was “Egyptian”, and from there the name began spreading like wildfire.

Left: A Romanichal clan Family.- Right: A Kale clan family. Traveller Families from two of the Largest Romani Clans.

The word chosen for them everywhere they went, was almost always coming from a derogatory, or slang term. For example in Western Europe (England), Gippy was used for a long period for people with similar skin complexion to the Egyptians. It was common behavior by many of the snide Europeans to assume that was where they came from. Both the name Gypsy and Gippy became popular in England in this same way. The term Gyp, was later coined to describe dishonest business. This is why the name Gypsy in America and parts of Eastern Europe is still very much considered a derogatory, or slanderous term. It’s not the same everywhere though. In the UK many of the modern Romanichal, Kale, Manouches, Sinti, Roma (Rom), and other family Clans do actually self identify as Gypsy.

Which leads, us to the next question.

Where did the name Romani start ?

This is assumed to have originated by people thinking they were Romanian, that's not entirely so, but also not entirely false either. I’ll explain.. In the beginning they were called the Rom or Roma this word originated from the word Doma in Sanskrit. It was used to describe the Dalit caste of entertainers of all types including singers and dancers. There were central European groups that later, 1300-1400’s that heard them described as Roma the travellers word for Man, or Romani the name of the travellers language and assumed they were Romanian. So, I suppose this leads us to the most important question.

Where did they actually come from, or more directly, what region, or country was their original home?

When I followed the info back to the source, the answer is one that I never suspected.