According to the historian John Davies, the name Dinas Powys (and its earlier spelling 'Dinas Powis') is derived from the Latin "Dinas Pagus" — meaning "city of pagans" is incorrect, of course. A 'pagus' was a Late Roman local regional description, the equivalent of a modern district council in Britain, and the kingdom of Powys derived its name from this, pagenses, '(land of the) country dwellers' or 'people of the pagi'. The root for Dinas Powys is the same, and means fort (dinas) of the country dwellers or the people .