Acanthan's attempt to recall anything regarding the name of Barovia doesn't bring anything substantive to mind, though she does seem to recall the naming convention of the wording to be something inherent to the region from an attempted human empire after the fall of Illefarn, a powerful nation of elves and dwarves.  Records of the would-be human empire that rose briefly thereafter is fragmentary and suffered a swift and sudden fall, so much so that modern history books barely ever give it any mention.