The name has derived from the Illyrian tribe of the Albanoi and their center Albanopolis, noted by the astronomer of Alexandria, Ptolemy, in the 2nd century AD.
[21][22][23] Arbanon, or Albanon, originally, was a region in the mountainous area to the west of Lake Ohrid and the upper valley of the river Shkumbin, in the 11th century AD.
[24] The Albanians are mentioned in Anna Comnena's account Alexiad, as Arbanites, because of their fights against the Normans in the region of Arbanon, during the reign of her father Alexios I Komnenos (1081–1118).
[25] Before that, in the book History written in 1079–1080, Byzantine historian Michael Attaliates was first to refer to the Albanoi as having taken part in a revolt against Constantinople in 1043 and to the Arbanitai as subjects of the duke of Dyrrachium.
[26] In later Byzantine usage, the terms Arbanitai and Albanoi, with a range of variants, were used interchangeably, while sometimes the same groups were also called by the classicising name Illyrians.
[36] In medieval Serbian sources, the toponym of the country underwent linguistic metathesis and was rendered as Raban and Rabanski for the people.
[46] In fact, the term Arvanitis (Ἀρβανίτης) [singular form] was established in modern Greek language from the original name Alvanitis (Άλβανίτης), who in return derived from Alvanos (Ἀλβανος).
The name for Scotland in the Celtic languages is related to Albion: Alba in Scottish Gaelic, Albain in Irish, Nalbin in Manx and Alban in Welsh, Cornish and Breton.
[53] Albany is one of the oldest surviving European settlements from the original Thirteen Colonies[54] and the longest continuously chartered city in the United States.