The name of the tribe most probably derives from the Proto-Slavic word "*drъgъva" (found only in Southern Belarusian as "dregva" and Northern Ukrainian as "dragva, dryagva", which is a loanword from Baltic languages "dreguva" meaning 'swamp'), because the Dregoviches used to live in the marshlands.
[2] Linguists consider that they are "undoubtedly" related to a South Slavic tribe with a similar name, Drougoubitai.
However, there is a reference in the De Administrando Imperio of Constantine Porphyrogenitus to "δρουγουβίται", "Drougoubitai".
[4] Since the reference appears in a passage describing the "Druguvitai" as one of the Slavic peoples who pay tribute to the princes of Kievan Rus', and they are named alongside the Severians and Krivichians, it was suggested these are the same people as the Dregoviches.
In the 10th century, the lands of the Dregoviches became a part of Kievan Rus and later the Turov Principality.