Algiers

The term 'Algerian' and the city name Algiers have rich linguistic roots tracing back through centuries of Mediterranean history. The modern Arabic name al-Jazā'ir (الجزائر) literally translates to 'The Islands', referring to four small rocky islands that once lay just off the western cape of the city's coast before they were connected to the mainland by Kheireddine Pier in 1525 AD.

Historical records show that the full original name was Jazaʾir Banī Mazghanna (جزائر بني مزغانة), meaning 'Islands of Banu Mazghanna', when the city was established in 972 AD by Buluggin ibn Ziri of the Zirid Dynasty. The Bani Mezghanna were a Berber tribe belonging to the Sanhaja confederation who settled on the plains surrounding the ancient settlement.

In classical antiquity, the ancient Greeks knew the town as Ikósion (Ἰκόσιον), which was Latinized as Icosium under Roman rule from the 1st century BC. Greek folk etymology explained this name as deriving from their word for 'twenty' (εἴκοσι, eíkosi), supposedly because the city was founded by twenty companions of Hercules during his legendary labors in the Atlas Mountains, though this is likely apocryphal.

The city is also known by several honorific names in Arabic culture: el-Behdja (البهجة) meaning 'The Joyous', El Mahrussa meaning 'The Well-Guarded', and famously as 'Algiers the White' (French: Alger la Blanche, Arabic: al-Jazā'ir al-Bayda) for its stunning whitewashed buildings cascading down the hillsides toward the Mediterranean. The demonym 'Algerian' follows French linguistic conventions, and the country name Algeria itself is derived from the French Algérie, which comes from the city's name.