The name of the region of Macedonia (, "Makedonia") derives from the tribal name of the ancient Macedonians (, "Makedónes"). According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the "Makednoi" () were a Dorian tribe that stayed behind during the great southward migration of the Dorian Greeks (Histories 1.56.1). The word "Makednos" is cognate with the Doric Greek word "Μάκος" "Μakos" (Attic form Μήκος – "mékos"), which is Greek for "length". The ancient Macedonians took this name either because they were physically tall, or because they settled in the mountains. The latter definition would translate "Macedonian" as "Highlander".