Danube name meaning "strong, swift" (akin to Sanskrit "iṣiras" "swift"). In Latin, the Danube was variously known as ' or as '. The Dacian/Thracian name was "Donaris" for the upper Danube and "Istros" for the lower Danube. The Thraco-Phrygian name was "Matoas", "the bringer of luck". The Latin name is masculine, as are all its Slavic names, except Slovenian, (the name of the Rhine is also masculine in Latin, most of the Slavic languages, as well as in German). The German "Donau" (Early Modern German "Donaw, Tonaw", Middle High German "Tuonowe") is feminine, as it has been re-interpreted as containing the
International Association for Danube Research International Association for Danube Research The International Association for Danube Research, or IAD, is the oldest NGO of an active network of scientists in the Danube River Basin of Europe. The board of the IAD is composed of the president, vice-president and general secretary, forming the presidium, and currently 12 representatives of member countries. Since 2017 Cristina Sandu is the president and Thomas Hein from BOKU Wien and Wassercluster Lunz the vice-president. Since 2018 Katrin Teubner (PD) from Universität Wien is the general secretary. The names of the country representatives and the expert group leaders can be found at the