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The “bela” stems from the common Slavic root for “white”, as has been discussed in the other answers. There were also historical regions called the “Red” and the “Black” Rus’ (Ruthenia) on the territory of todays Belarus and Ukraine-- the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of the middle ages.
The origin of the “Rus” part of Belarus is somewhat uncertain. It is first documented in the 9th century. One possible interpretation is that this was either a toponym or an ethnonym of the Byzantinian nomenclature of the time for the territory of Eastern Europe or the people that lived there respectively. From the Greeks it could have migrated to these people, where it later became the self-denomination of the eastern Slavic state, the Kievan Rus’. But this is by no means the only hypothesis for the etymology of the name “Русь”. Some alternatives are the origin from a Finno-ugric root, or that it was derived from an earlier toponym (places called Русь or Русса (Russa) are not entirely unheard of). If you know Russian, this link I got from ru.wikipedia leads to a comprehensive article that investigates the common theories.
The naming tradition was continued after the 13th century by the decay products of the Kievan Rus’, including those that were eventually incorporated in Lithuania and later the Polish Commonwealth. Today, Belarus’ is the one that survives as the name of an actual state. (The term “Russia” is a bit more complex but not unrelated.)
Upvote:-1
Pretty sure your Belorussian friend was just having fun with you (re: story about pretty girl)
One of the more or less plausible theories says that "Rus" is not the ethnonym but one of the Scandinivian synonims for the earl's (prince's) hird (armed retinue, small private army). So the term "Rus'" or adjective "russkie" was originally used only for those local "armed forces". However, there are various different theories. We will probably never know the real answer...
Sources
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I guess I will weigh in here because the other answers do not fully explain the situation.
First of all, the word pronounced byel-yih means "white" in Russian.
Traditionally in Russia white is the color associated with what is noble and good, whereas black (chorny) is the color of what is low and mean. So, all things noble were described as white, and things brutish black. So, for example, a Czarist fief immune from taxes would be a "white estate" and a vassal estate subject to taxes would be a "black estate". Likewise, capital cities where the noble lived would be "white cities" like Belgrade, for example, but a ramshackle or occupied city would be a "black city". Thus, "white russia" simply means the good part of Russia and this part of the country has been called that for at least 500 years.
Though the above is the ancient historical consensus, there are divergent explanations. For example, the geographer and antiquarian Simon Staravolski wrote the following (1734):
So, what this says is that White Russia is known so because it is long covered in snow and moreover all the animals there, wolves, bears, leopards, foxes and so on are white, which animals are normally other colors in all other places. This strikes me, however, as a folk etymology, and the foregoing I think to be correct.
I would particularly note that the part of the Russia facing and within Poland was formerly known as "Black Russia" (Russia Nigra) in contradistinction to White Russia, which was a crown land of the Czar hence the noble part of Russia. This consideration alone I think eliminates the animal explanation as a red herring and reinforces the dominant view (of Voltaire, et al) that the White refers to the noble or Czarist part of the country.
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Belorussia means "White Russia" in Russian. Rus' (the final consonant should be soft) is the ancient name of the East Slavic state centered around Kiev. Belarus thus can be interpreted as "White Rus'"
I never heard any legend about any woman named "Rus". I also doubt that "bela" ever could mean "beautiful"
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Before 1863 the land of todays Belarus was called "Litva" and people, accordingly, "litvins" (do not confuse with modern Republic of Lithuania which in those times was called "Zhmudz"). In 1863 there was a big uprise against Russian Empire. After it was suppressed and thousands of participants were executed, russians banned the very name of "Litva". Instead the name "Severo-zapadnyi kraj" (North-west region) was introduced. Belarusian cultural elites were not satisfied with the name inflicted by occuppant goverment. So, the name "Belarus" was proposed by great poet Francishak Bahushevich.
Upvote:13
Belarus was earlier called White Russia.
Belo is the "Russian" word for White. It is probably not a reference to the Latin "bella" or beautiful. Nor do I believe that "Rus" is a reference to a woman.
"Rus" was a reference to a group of Vikings who settled the western parts of what later became the Soviet Union, including modern Belarus and the Ukraine. But it was the lands EAST of the "Rus"sian settlements that finally took the name "Russia."