What's in a name?

The origins of the words Lietuva (the Lithuanian name for Lithuania) and Vilnius are far from clear. Of the former, many claim it comes from the local word for rain, lietus, although this is nothing but fanciful speculation. Others are of the belief that it can be traced back to Lietava, the name of a small river close to Kernavė, the capital of the emerging Lithuanian nation. Likewise, this theory is, no pun indented, far from watertight. Interestingly, the origin of the anglicised form, Lithuania, is also unknown. As for the word Vilnius, its first use wasn’t noted until fairly late in the 19th century, having formerly been known even to the Lithuanians as Vilna, which with the addition of the letter i spells Vilnia, the name, once again, of a local river. So, rather strangely, the word Vilnius is a lithuanianised version of a Lithuanian name.