In the late 18th century, Europeans began using the term "Aryan" to refer to the original prehistoric Proto-Indo-Europeans and their descendants up to the present day (i.e., the Indo-European peoples—those Caucasians who speak the Indo-European languages). It was also assumed at the time, that, Aryans were a culturally superior people. By the late 19th century, some Europeans began to use the name "Aryan" for only the Nordic peoples of Europe (one branch of the Indo-European peoples), as a "pure," "noble" and racially "superior" race they claimed were descended from the original Aryan tribes. The theory that the Aryans first came from Europe became especially popular in Germany and to a lesser degree in Austria and Hungary.