Wal/Gal

Many region names (and some place names) in Europe derive from the original Germanic word for stranger or foreigner, rendered as "wal" or "gal" (and variations). Germanic w became gu when borrowed into Old French

Old French

Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...

. (Contrast guardian, guerre and Guillaume with the English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 forms warden, war and William).

"Gal/Wal" especially came to mean "strangers at the edge of (our) region". Examples of place/region names possibly deriving this way include:-

• Wales
  Wales
  Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
  
  
• Wallonia (Belgium)
• Galway
  Galway
  Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...
  
   (Ireland)
• Galloway
  Galloway
  Galloway is an area in southwestern Scotland. It usually refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire...
  
   (Scotland)
• Wallachia
  Wallachia
  Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
  
   (Romania)
• Cornwall
  Cornwall
  Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
  
   (England)
• Wallis (Valais)
  Valais
  The Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley...
  
   (Swiss Canton)
• Walsall
  Walsall
  Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...
  
   (England)
• Walsden
  Walsden
  Walsden is a large village in the town of Todmorden in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England, close to the Greater Manchester border...
  
   (England)
• Galicia (Spain)
• Galicia (Turkey)
• Galicia (Ukraine)

Some non-Germanic languages adopted this Germanic root. The Scottish Gaelic term for the Outer Hebrides

Outer Hebrides

The Outer Hebrides also known as the Western Isles and the Long Island, is an island chain off the west coast of Scotland. The islands are geographically contiguous with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland...

 is Innse-Gall.

See also: German placename etymology

German placename etymology

Placenames in the German language area can be classified by the language from which they originate, and by their age.- Suffixes :# -ach, . Examples: Echternach, Salzach....