The term "Rakhine" may have come from the Pali word "Rakkhapura" from "Rakkhita" meaning the land of the people of Rakhasa (Rakhasa > Rakkha > Rakkhaing > Rakhaing) who were given this name in honor of their preservation of their national heritage and ethics or morality. The word Rakhine means, "one who maintains his own race." In the Rakhine language, the land is called "Rakhinepray", the ethnic Rakhine are called "Rakhinetha".