Page "Al-Andalus" Paragraph 6

At least three specific etymologies have been proposed in Western scholarship, all presuming that the name arose after the Roman period in the Iberian Peninsula's history.

Their originators or defenders have been historians.

Recently, linguistics expertise has been brought to bear on the issue.

Arguments from toponymy ( the study of place names ), history, and language structure demonstrate the lack of substance in all following proposals, and evidence has been presented that the name predates, rather than postdates, the Roman occupation.