Milan's name comes from the Celtic Medelhan, meaning "in the middle of the plain", due either to its location in a plain close to the confluence of two small rivers, the Olona and the Seveso, or perhaps to its being close to, and roughly equidistant from, two major rivers, the Ticino and the Adda. The Romans transcribed the name as Mediolanum, which in Latin could also be interpreted as meaning "wool in the middle". Thus arose the legend, built on Celtic lore about the boar as a mythical animal: according to a prophecy the site for the settlement would have been indicated to a Celtic king by the appearance of a wild pig or boar with a ridge of hair along its back, as reported by Cardano around 1626:

Nel fabricar de le superbe mura
De la prima Città ch'abbian gl'Insubri
Uscì da i fondamenti un gran Cinghiale,
Mezzo di pel setoso, e mezzo ignudo,
Onde MILAN chiamossi
Da gli Hedui, o Borgognoni, o pur da i Franchi,
Da cui l'origine hebbe,
Che altri di MEZZA LANA dir potrebbe
Translated:

While building the majestic walls
Of the first Town the Insubres have
From the foundation a big boar came
Half silky with hair, and half bare
Hence it was called MILAN
By the Aedui, the Burgundians or the Franks,
And from this had its origin
What others could call HALF WOOL
Today the boar is still sometimes used as a symbol of the city. According to another explanation, Mediolanum comes from a corruption of In medio lanorum meaning between the rivers - actually Milan still includes the two small Olona and Seveso rivers.

The German name for the city is Mailand, while in the local Western Lombard dialect, the city's name is Milán, pronounced quite as in French.