"Croat" and "Croats" - from a toponym to an ethnonym

Abstract

This paper examines interpretations of the meaning and development of European toponyms, regionyms and ethnonyms with common „Croatian“ basis. The paper also analyses various sources mentioning the „Croatian" name, taking particular account of Vjekoslav Klaić’s considerations and conclusions on this issue. The paper also includes an analysis of the historical appearance of identical „Croatian“ toponyms, regionym, teritorionym and ethnonym in a part of the area of the former Roman province of Dalmatia (which today represents certain regions of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina) during the early Middle Ages. Finally, the question of the existence of “White Croats” and “White Croatia” in the European context is also debated, as the presumed „arrival of the Croats“ to Dalmatia is also disputed.