On the basis of works by medieval Arabic- and Persian-language travellers, geographers and historians, the author rapidly surveys century-long glosses on the name of the city of Samarqand (with particular attention for the isolation of the word thamar by a wide range of authors), and those of some of the city’s rural satellites (Ab-i Mashhad, Ab-i Rahmat, Siyahab, etc.).  The article distinguishes itself from the bulk of publications on the same subject by the attention given to the Soghdian roots of some apparently Arabic denominations.