According to Max Vasmer's Etymological Dictionary, the name "Vologda" originates from a Uralic language and means "a white city".[2] Another, less reliable account suggests that the city was named after the river and its name should be translated as "white water"[3] Folk-etymology sometimes associates the name Vologda with the Russian word volok (Russian: волок)[4] meaning "portage" or "stretch of forest".[5]