Marchet, Flaminzeni, Limbeni, Tarsitei – Moldova’s villages

Moldova is full of villages with funny names. Marchet, Flaminzeni, Limbeni, Carnateni, Tarsitei are just few of the names that raise smiles when heard for the first time. The villages’ residents say that the names have not changed since the times when boyars owned them, reports Info-Prim Neo. Several villages have names that resemble human names. Among these are Andrusul de Sus and Andrusul de Jos in Cahul, Marianca de Sus in Causeni, Ecaterinovca, Bogdanovca and Dimitrovca in Cimislia, Elenovca in Donduseni, Dumitreni in Floresti, Danu, Serghieni and Petrunea in Glodeni, Ilenuta in Falesti, Alexeevca in Edinet, Antonovca, Evghenievca, Gavrilovca, Petrovca and Vladimireuca in Sangerei. There are also three villages in the district of Orhei, with names that resemble human ones. The villages are Jora de Sus, Jora de Jos, and Jora de Mijloc. According to the villagers, a long time ago the village belonged to a boyar named Jora. He had many lands. When he decided to set his three sons on their paths, he split the land among them: the upper part went to the eldest son, the middle went to the middle son, and the lower part of the land went to the youngest son. This is how the three villages came to be. There are also villages with names that resemble food names. There is Brinza in Cahul, Brinzeni in Edineti, Glodeni and Telenesti, and Aluatu in Taraclia. There is also Carnateni in the district of Causeni. Other village names come from animals, birds or insects, e.g. Tintareni and Serpeni in Anenii Noi, Gasca and Ursoaia in Causeni, Iepureni in Cantemir, Bursuc and Capresti in Floresti, Albina in Cimislia. Victor Alexandru, Mayor of Saseni, Calarasi district, told Info-Prim Neo that the locality is mentioned in documents dating to 1437 and, according to the legend, the settlement has inhabited by archers and boyars from Stefan cel Mare’s times. As for the name of the village, the elderly say that several willow (“salcie” in Romanian) trees grew at the village entrance; there was a child who could not talk well yet, and instead of calling the trees “salcie”, he called them “sasie”. The Mayor says that in Romania, in Galati and Buzau counties, there are also localities with the same name. A settlement in Telenesti has the name of Tarsitei. Some say the name comes from a family that lived there long time ago, and had three calves. Others say the name comes from a nearby river. The villages of Limbenii Noi and Limbenii Vechi from Glodeni have nothing in common with our language. Leonardo, a boyar who lived there, gave them these names. Valea Perjei (i.e. Valley of the Plum). This is how two villages, one from Cimislia and another from Taraclia, are called. Mayor of Valea Perjei from Taraclia Alexandru Popov claims that the area used to have a valley with many plum orchards, which would explain the name of the settlement. As for the other village, it is believed that settlers who moved from Taraclia to Cimislia gave the name. Residents of Pivniceni (i.e. “Cellary”), Donduseni district, say that a boyar who had a large cellar (“pivnita” in Romanian) used to live there; he would sell beer there, and this is where the name came from. As for the Marchet village, it has nothing in common with the English word “market”. The name comes from a boyar with the same name, who used to live there. There are also villages in Moldova, which bear the names of historic figures like Decebal, Alexandru cel bun, and even Regina Maria (Queen Mary); all of them are in the district of Soroca. The residents of Regina Maria proudly call themselves regineni (i.e. queen’s men). There are over 1600 villages in Moldova, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.