Roma, singular Rom, also called Romany or Gypsies (considered pejorative), an ethnic group of traditionally itinerant people who originated in northern India but live in modern times worldwide, principally in Europe.
Both Rom and Romani have been in use in English since the 19th century as an alternative for Gypsy. Romani was sometimes spelled Rommany, but more often Romany, while today Romani is the most popular spelling.
“Roma” is the word (ethnonym) that the Roma use to describe themselves: it is the term for the members of that specific people and it is Romani for “man”. “Gypsy” is a derogatory, disparaging term – for many an insult — used by the majority population to define the Roma people.
The term 'Gypsies and Travellers' is difficult to define as it does not constitute a single, homogenous group, but encompasses a range of groups with different histories, cultures and beliefs including: Romany Gypsies, Welsh Gypsies, Scottish Gypsy Travellers and Irish Travellers.
Common Gypsy names
You may have Romani, Traveller or Gypsy ancestry if your family tree includes common Romani or Gypsy surnames such as Boss, Boswell, Buckland, Chilcott, Codona, Cooper, Doe, Lee, Gray (or Grey), Harrison, Hearn, Heron, Hodgkins, Holland, Lee, Lovell, Loveridge, Scamp, Smith, Wood and Young.
Romani communities are dispersed across all Australian states, with significant populations located in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia. Around 14,000 Roma live in Western Australia, mostly immigrants from Macedonia and their children. Nearly all lead sedentary lives.
Both Rom and Romany have been in use in English since the 19th century as an alternative for Gypsy. Romany is also spelled Romani, or Rommany.
Formally, Islam is the religion that these communities align themselves with, and the people are recognized for their staunch preservation of the Romani language and identity. Most Eastern European Roma are Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or Muslim.
countable noun. A Gypsy is a member of a race of people who travel from place to place, usually in caravans, rather than living in one place. Some Gypsies object to this name, and prefer to be called Romany.
Rom (man) and romni (woman) also mean "husband" and "wife." Roma avoid Soviet ceremonies and have their own interesting wedding ceremonies, which are strictly observed, even in big cities.
The Romani people, also referred to as Roma, Sinti or Kale, depending on the sub-group, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group which primarily lives in Europe.
The Roma do not follow a single faith, but are Catholic Manouche, Mercheros, and Sinti; Muslim Ashkali and Romanlar; Pentecostal Kalderash and Lovari; Protestant Travellers; Anglican Gypsies; and Baptist Roma.
New Age Travellers were often referred to as crusties or gutter punks and used to travel between free music festivals and fairs prior to crackdown in the 1990s. New Traveller also refers to those who are not traditionally of an ethnic nomadic group but who have chosen to pursue a nomadic lifestyle.
Romany Gypsies, people who are thought to have originally migrated from India and arrived in the UK around the 16th Century. Romany is the word that Gypsy people in England and Wales apply to themselves hence the term Romany Gypsy.
Despite a very similar name, and the large amount of Romanis in Romania, Romani is not at all related to Romanian. The word 'rom', meaning a male Romani, is probably derived from Sanskrit 'doma', referring to the caste. From one to ten, let's compare Hindi (left) and standardized Romani (right) numbers.
Roma (Gypsies) originated in the Punjab region of northern India as a nomadic people and entered Europe between the eighth and tenth centuries C.E. They were called "Gypsies" because Europeans mistakenly believed they came from Egypt. This minority is made up of distinct groups called "tribes" or "nations."
Tommy looked on in horror and asked if his daughter had seen anything, with Lizzie saying that she had mentioned “a man with green eyes”. Speaking to Digital Spy, Peaky Blinders showrunner Knight has revealed the meaning of the premonition, saying: “It's difficult to translate from the Romani, but it means 'devil'.
Here is the Peaky Blinders Gypsy debacle explained. Tommy Shelby and his kin are Irish-Romani (sometimes spelled Romany) Gypsies, a unique cultural and ethnic group present in Britain since the 1500s. The award-winning Peaky Blinders is directed by Steven Knight and has run for 6 seasons, the most recent hitting U.S.
The Boswells (Bosville/Boss) are one of the largest and most well-known of all the British Romany Gypsy families.
There is no king or queen. Traveller families often have someone that makes the main decisions that will affect the family as a whole, and is usually a patriarch or matriarch of the family. This is often the same for Romany people, who have no tradition of royalty.
The heavyweight champion boxer Tyson Fury is nicknamed 'the Gypsy King'. He is related to Bartley Gorman, who claimed the title of 'King of the Gypsies' on the basis of his prowess at bare knuckle boxing.
Irish Travellers are sometimes mistakenly called gypsies. They have no genetic relation with the Roma people. In Ireland Travellers were also commonly known as tinkers, derived from the sound their tools made hitting metal when many Travellers worked as tinsmiths.
They are one of several groups identified as "Travellers", related groups being the Scottish Travellers and English Travellers. They are often incorrectly referred to as "Gypsies", but Irish Travellers are not genetically related to the Romani, who are of Indo-Aryan origin.
Gypsy Roma Travellers are not currently recognised as indigenous, but could be. These communities have distinct cultural practices and experience colonisation. These communities have higher mortality, morbidity and infant mortality.