Hurdy-gurdy twenty-three different forms, and there is still no standardized design today. The six-stringed French "vielle à roue" is the best known and most common sort. A number of regional forms developed, but outside France the instrument was considered a folk instrument and there were no schools of construction that could have determined a standard form. There are two primary body styles for contemporary instruments: guitar-bodied and lute-backed. Both forms are found in French-speaking areas, while guitar-bodied instruments are the general form elsewhere. The box form of the "simphonia" is also commonly found among players of early music and historical re-enactors.
Hurdy-gurdy German name, "Bauernleier", means "peasant's lyre". In Italy, it is called the "ghironda" or "lira tedesca" while in Spain, it is a "zanfona" in Galicia, "zanfoña" in Zamora, "rabil" in Asturias and "viola de roda" in Catalonia. In the Basque language, it is known as a "zarrabete". In Portugal, it is called "sanfona". The Hungarian name "tekerőlant" and the alternate "forgólant" both mean "turning lute." Another Hungarian name for the instrument is "nyenyere", which is thought to be an onomatopoeic reference to the repetitive warble produced by a wheel that is not even. This term was considered derogatory in the