English 'Berlin' comes from German, which borrowed the name from a West Slavic root meaning 'swamp' or 'marshy ground' — the bear on the city's coat of arms is folk etymology, not linguistic history.
The capital and largest city of Germany, situated on the River Spree in northeastern Germany.
English 'Berlin' is borrowed from German 'Berlin', first documented in 1244. The name is almost certainly of West Slavic origin, from the area's Slavic-speaking Hevelli and Sprevane populations. The most accepted etymology derives it from the Old Polabian Slavic root *berl- or *birl- meaning 'swamp' or 'dry place in a marsh', with the common Slavic place-name suffix -in. This is consistent with the marshy terrain of the Spree river