Historical names of Transylvania
Transylvania has had different names applied to it in several traditions. Section::::"Transylvania". The first reference to the region was as the Medieval Latin expression ("land beyond the forest") in a document dating to 1075. The expression ("area beyond the forest") appears in the 12th century in ' and subsequently as ' in medieval documents of the Hungarian kingdom. The names of in Romanian and in Hungarian are believed to be connected. However, the original source and meaning are disputed and claimed by both Romanians and Hungarians. The first Hungarian form recorded was (12th century, in the "Gesta Hungarorum ) while the first Romanian form recorded was in 1432 as Ardeliu". The initial "a"/"e" difference between the names can be found in other Hungarian loans in Romanian, such as Hungarian ‘gooseberry’ → Romanian , , as well as in placenames, e.g., → , and . Note that is derived from Latin trough an intermediate. Adjud, Ardud and Ardeova do not have established etymologies and it's more likely that Hungarian borrowed the names from Romanian . Another possible source for the name could be the Celtic word "Ardal" which means land or country.The region itself has been under Celtic influence at some point as  there are many places with names derived from the Celtic language, e.g. "Duna, Donau, Dunerea and Temesvár, Temeswar, Timișoara" (Hun/De/Ro). Hungarian view. The consensus of Hungarian linguists and Hungarian historians on the etymology of both "Erdély" and "Transylvania" is as follows: Romanian view. Several Romanian perspectives have suggested alternative etymologies: Section::::"Siebenbürgen". The oldest occurrences of this form are from the 13th century: There exist a number of theories on the etymology of , the German name for Transylvania. The most widely accepted theory is that refers to the seven principal fortified towns of the Transylvanian Saxons. The name first  appeared in a document from 1296. An alternate Medieval Latin version, ("Seven fortresses") was also used in documents. The towns alluded to are Bistritz (Bistrița, Beszterce), Hermannstadt (Sibiu, Nagyszeben), Klausenburg (Cluj-Napoca, Kolozsvár), Kronstadt (Brașov, Brassó), Mediasch (Mediaș, Medgyes), Mühlbach (Sebeș, Szászsebes), and Schässburg (Sighișoara, Segesvár). Other theories include: The Slavic names of the region ("Sedmigradsko" or "Sedmogradsko" ("Седмиградско" or "Седмоградско") in Bulgarian, "Sedmogradska" in Croatian, "Sedmograjska" in Slovene, "Sedmihradsko" in Czech, "Sedmohradsko" in Slovak, "Siedmiogród" in Polish, "Semihorod" ("Семигород") in Ukrainian), as well as its Walloon name ("Zivenbork"), are translations of the German one. In Ukrainian, the name Zalissia  (, meaning "beyond the forest") is also used.