 According to tradition, collected by in the mid-19th century, the settlement of Puka had been founded by a Paolo Zenta, who according to Marin Barletius was a relative of Lekë Dukagjini.The region also has its own Kanun, a set of traditional Albanian laws and is known as () and used mainly in Northern Albania and Kosovo.The toponym may derive from Latin "via publica" ("public road") as it was located on an old trade route.