Armenia Through History

The aboriginal name in Armenian is Hayk, but in the Middle Ages it was changed to Hayastan with the addition of the Persian suffix Stan (country). The name is traditionally derived from the name of Hayk, the founder of the Armenian state. He was one of the great Armenian leaders for whom the country of Hayk is named. It referred to the Armenian people and country called Hayer and Hayastan. According to historians, the ancient United State of Armenia was a kingdom of the Haykakans.

According to the legend, and according to an ancient Armenian tradition, Hayk is said to have settled at the foot of Mount Ararat, travelled to assist in building the Tower of Babel, and, after his return, defeated the Babylonian king Bel (believed by some researchers to be Nimrod) in 2492 BC near the mountains of Lake Van, in the southwestern part of historic Armenia (present-day eastern Turkey).

Hayk was given the name Armenia by the surrounding states, presumably as it was the name of the strongest tribe living in the historic Armenian lands, who called themselves Armens who were of Proto-Indo-European descent. It is traditionally derived from Armenak or Aram (the great-grandson of Haik's great-grandson, and another leader who is, according to Armenian tradition, the ancestor of all Armenians).

*The history behind the other names of Armenia

The earliest universally accepted attestation of the name dates to the 6th century BC, from the trilingual Behistun Inscription, where the names Armina (in Old Persian), Harminuya (in Elamite), and Urashtu (in Babylonian).

Harminni

Alternatively, Armenia is interpreted by some as ḪARMinni, that is, "the mountainous region of the Minni". Minni (מנּי) is also the biblical name of a region mentioned in the Bible.
“Lift up a banner in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations for battle against her; summon against her these kingdoms: Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander against her; send up horses like a swarm of locusts. (Jeremiah 51: 27)

Next to Ararat and Ashchenaz is the same as the Assyrian Minnai inscription, which probably corresponds to Mannai. The Armenian name of the Elamites was inscribed as "Har-mi-nu-ya."

Erimena

The name Erimena appears in Urartian inscriptions as the father of Rusa III, and can be interpreted as "Rusa, son of the Armenians".

Armenia

The more recent name "Armenia" was introduced into English via Latin from his Ἀρμενία in ancient Greek. The Greek Αρμένιοι (meaning Armenian) is probably the oldest reference in a fragment attributed to Hecateus of Miletus (c. 476 BC). Armenian and Armenian are the names most commonly used internationally to describe the country of Armenia and the Armenian people.