''Andis'' is a variant of Andes, a personal name popular among the

Illyrians The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo ...

inhabiting the territory of what is now

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, more specifically the southern parts of ancient province of

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now wes ...

and much of the northern parts of ancient

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

. Due to this particular geographic distribution, the origin and the meaning of Andes may be connected to the name origin of

Andizetes This is a list of ancient tribes in the ancient territory of Illyria ( grc-gre, Ἰλλυρία; la, Illyria). The name ''Illyrians'' seems to be the name of a single Illyrian tribe that was the first to come into contact with the ancient Greeks ...

, a small Illyrian community whose home was precisely present day Bosnia and Herzegovina. Due to a widespread distribution of names like Andio, Andena, Andinus, found throughout the entire territory inhabited by ancient Illyrians, we can presume that the pertinent root word is "and-". "Andes" resembles and sounds like some ancient

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

name, with the word ending of "''-es''", as opposed to names with more typically Illyrian name endings, ''-o'', and ''-on'', such as that found in a more Illyrian-sounding variant

Andio ''Andis'' is a variant of Andes, a personal name popular among the Illyrians inhabiting the territory of what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina, more specifically the southern parts of ancient province of Pannonia and much of the northern parts of anci ...

, found too throughout the Illyrian territories, but predominantly in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, coincidentally or not, "Andes" literally represents an Albanian

Dative case In grammar, the dative case (abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "Maria Jacobo potum dedit", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob a ...

of "Anda" (Albanian Dative case for nouns ending in "''-a''" end with

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...

"''-es''";e.g.

Nominative case In grammar, the nominative case (abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or (in Latin and formal variants of Engl ...

- And''a''; Dative case - And''es''; Nom. - Plak''a''; Dat. - Plak''es'' etc.). However, if "Andes" were an Albanian name, then it is most likely to represent the

Genitive case In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...

(English = "''of'' Anda, or "belonging to Anda"; "Albanian ''-i'' And''es''", with prefix "''-i''" diminished in the name) and not the Dative, given that names and surnames traditionally and technically represent the Genitive case, also known as

Possessive case A possessive or ktetic form (abbreviated or ; from la, possessivus; grc, κτητικός, translit=ktētikós) is a word or grammatical construction used to indicate a relationship of possession in a broad sense. This can include strict owne ...

or Second case ( e.g. " O'Connor"= "of Connor", "Johnson"= "Son of John" etc.). Indeed, the closest corresponding word (and a possible

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...

) is the

Proto-Albanian The Proto-Albanian language is the unattested language from which Albanian later developed. Albanian evolved from an ancient Paleo-Balkan language, traditionally thought to be Illyrian, or otherwise a totally unattested Balkan Indo-European la ...

word ''Anda'', meaning "''a strong desire''", from which a modern

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

word of "''Andja''" ("''desire''", "''wish''" or "''lust''") is believed to derive.Orel, Vladimir, Albanian Etymological Dictionary However, other etymological explanations should be considered, given the fact that further scientific enquiry should be carried out before reaching a tangible conclusion pertaining to the etymology of Illyrian names and Illyrian language in general. Female versions of the name include Andia and Andena. The name of ancient

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

god,

Andinus Andinus is an Illyrian god worshipped among the Dardanians in Moesia Superior. The only trace left is a name carved on an altar dedicated by a ''beneficiarus'' ("a foreigner"). Variants of the name such as ''Andia'' or ''Andio'' were common among ...

(''Deo Andino sacrum'') is yet another word that has been related to this personal name. The name is also used in

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

, as a short form of

Andris Andris is a Latvian masculine given name, a cognate of Andrew Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in List of countries where English is an ...

Andrejs Andrejs is a Latvian masculine given name. It is a cognate of the name Andrew and may refer to: * Andrejs Apsītis (1888–1945), Latvian cyclist and Olympic competitor *Andrejs Auzāns (1871-1953), Latvian military general and topographer *Andr ...

, both Latvian forms of

Andrew Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in List of countries where English is an official language, English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is freq ...

. The female forms are

Anda Anda or ANDA may refer to: Places China *Anda, Heilongjiang, a city in Heilongjiang, China *Anda railway station, a railway station in Anda, China Iran *Anda, Iran, a village in Fars Province, Iran Norway *Anda, Norway, an island in Øksnes mun ...

and Andra.

References

{{Given name Ancient tribes in Bosnia and Herzegovina