Etymology
See also: History of Bratislava#EtymologyThe city got its modern name in 1919. Beforehand it was mostly known in English by its German name, Pressburg. Its first recorded name, in the 10th century Annales Iuvavenses, was probably Brezalauspurc (literally: Braslav's castle). This is the term which the German, the pre-1919 Slovak (Prešporok) and Czech name (Prešpurk) derive from. The origin of the city's Hungarian name, Pozsony, is unclear: it might come from the Hungarian Poson (name of the city's first castellan), the Czech Pos or the German Poscho, which are personal names. The Hungarian name is still used by Hungarian speakers today. The city's modern name is attributed to Pavel Jozef Šafárik's misinterpretation of Braslav as Bratislav when analyzing medieval sources, thus coming up with the term Břetislaw, later Bratislav.
During the revolution of 1918–1919, the name 'Wilsonov' or 'Wilsonstadt' (after the American president) was proposed by American Slovaks. The name Bratislava, which was used before only by some Slovak patriots, became official in March 1919.
Other alternative names of the city in the past: Greek: Ιστρόπολις Istropolis (meaning "Danube City", also used in Latin), Czech: Prešpurk, French: Presbourg, Italian: Presburgo, Latin: Posonium, Croatian: Požun, Romanian: Pojon, Serbian: Požun/ Пожун. The name Pressburg was also used in English language publications until 1919, and it is still occasionally used today.
In older documents, confusion can be caused by the Latin forms Bratislavia, Wratislavia etc., which refer to Wrocław (Breslau), Poland – not to Bratislava.
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