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French Language

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    The name is explained on wikipedia (Germanic W became G in French and other Romance languages. The adjective gallois (which is also the name of the inhabitants) seems to have first been used in the 12th c. Commented Nov 25, 2019 at 14:20
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    I'm not a specialist concerning Old French but I can tell Galois is indeed found in Chrétien de Troyes. This entry Gallois with a quotation from Froissart in Lacurne's dictionary might be of interest to you as well. Commented Nov 25, 2019 at 16:04
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    You don't mention it in this question (and it's not of any great importance), but in the linked Linguistics question you state, albeit parenthetically, that "... similar to the French Galles (Pays de Galles,where Galles is not a plural, like [it is] in Romanian, ... ." Based on my interpretation of this TLFi/CNRTL entry for Galles, however, I'm not convinced that "Galles is [in fact] not a plural." (click the "GALLES, subst. masc. plur." tab. Commented Nov 25, 2019 at 16:20
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    @PapaPoule - do you think that "Pays de Galles" meant in French "Pays des Gallois"? instead of just being a transliteration of Wales? Why then de and not des? Commented Nov 25, 2019 at 16:33
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    Your question seems to be based on an incorrect proposition — that a country can't have a name before it has a ruler. Italy and Germany were united in 1860 and 1871, respectively, but the names Italy and Germany existed long before then, and they did not mean the Italian and the German people; they meant regions of Europe. Commented Jan 3, 2022 at 11:27