List of Dacian names
This article is a non-exhaustive lists of names used by the Dacian people, who were among the inhabitants of Eastern Europe before and during the Roman Empire. Many hundreds of personal names and placenames are known from ancient sources, and they throw light on the Dacian language and the extent to which it differed from Thracian.
Anthroponyms
Around 1150 Dacian anthroponyms and 900 toponyms have been preserved in ancient sources. As far as the onomastic of Dacians and Thracians is concerned, opinions are divided. According to Crossland, the evidence of names from the Dacian, Mysian and Thracian area seems to indicate divergence of a 'Thraco-Dacian' language into northern and southern groups of dialects, but not so different as to rank Thracian and Dacian as separate languages, There were also the development of special tendencies in word formation and of certain secondary phonetic features in each group. Mateescu, Rosetti sustain that Thracian onomastic include elements that are common to Geto-Dacians and Bessians. A part of researchers support that onomastically, Dacians are not different from the other Thracians in Roman Dacia's inscriptions. But recently, D. Dana basing himself on new onomastic material recorded in Egyptian ostraka suggested criteria which would make possible to distinguish between closely related Thracian and Dacian-Moesian names and singled out certain specific elements for the latter.In Georgiev's opinion Dacian placenames and personal names are "completely different" from their Thracian counterparts.
Several Dacian names have also been identified with ostracons of Dacian cavalry recruited after the Roman conquest and stationed in East Egypt, i.e. Dadas and Dadazi, Zoutoula, Dotos and Dotouzi, Dieri and Diernais, Diengis, Dida, Blaikisa, Blegissa, Diourdanos, Thiadicem, Avizina, Dourpokis, Kaigiza, Dardiolai, Denzibalos, Denzi-balus, Pouridour, Thiaper and Tiatitis, Dekinais, *Rolouzis,
A
B
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Toponyms
| No | Dacian name | Etymology | Modern city/Location | Attestation | Notes |
| 1 | Acidava | Enoşeşti, Olt County, Romania | Tabula Peutingeriana | ||
| 2 | Amutria | Hypothetically located at one of the following sites in Oltenia :
| Ptolemy's Geographia, Tabula Peutingeriana | ||
| 3 | Apula | Piatra Craivii, 20 km North of Alba-Iulia, Romania | Tabula Peutingeriana | Apulum in Latin, see also Apuli | |
| 4 | Bersobis | "White, shine" including birch-tree from root *bhereg > berz Alternatively, it could be compared with Berzama, place name from Thrace between Amhialos and Kabyle and Bactrian Bareza 'height' | Modern Berzovia village in Caraș-Severin County, on the bank of river Bârzava, Romania | The sole surviving sentence from Trajan's campaign journal in the Latin grammar work of Priscian, Institutiones grammaticae | |
| 5 | Napoca | The following are the most important hypotheses regarding Napoca's etymology:
| Cluj-Napoca, Romania | Tabula Peutingeriana |
Hydronyms
| Dacian name | Modern name | Etymology | Attestation |
| Alutus, Aloutas | Olt | Ptolemy, Jordanes | |
| Amutrion, Amutria | Motru | ||
| Argessos, Ordessos | Argeș | ||
| Buseos | Buzău | Originally Μουσεος, where Μπ is pronounced as B | |
| Crisus | Criș | ||
| Donaris | Upper Danube | ||
| Hyerassus, Tiarantos, Gerasus, Seratos | Siret | ||
| Istros | Upper Danube | The Ancient Greek Istros was a borrowing from Thracian/Dacian meaning "strong, swift", akin to Sanskrit is.iras "swift". | |
| Maris, Marisos | Mureș | Herodotus, Strabo | |
| Naparis | Ialomița | a) According to Russu 'Flow' / 'moisture' It has probably the same root with Napoca b) According to Parvan, after Tomaschek the meaning is similar with Lith. Napras in which there is a high probability of the root nebh-"to spring". c) According to Bogrea, 'spring' compared with Old Persian napas 'spring' | Herodotus, |
| Patissus, Pathissus, Tisia | Tisa | ||
| Pyretus, Pyretos, Pyresos, Porata | Prut | ||
| Rabon | Jiu | ||
| Samus | Someș | ||
| Sargetia | Strei | ||
| Tyras | Dniester | ||
| Tibisis | Timiș | Herodotus |
Ancient
Modern