Sfântu Gheorghe is one of the oldest cities in Transylvania, the settlement first having been documented in 1332. The city takes its name from Saint George, the patron of the local church. Historically it was also known in German as "Sankt Georgen". The "sepsi" prefix ("sebesi" → "sepsi", meaning "of Sebes") refers to the area which the ancestors of the local Székely population had inhabited before settling to the area of the town. The previous area of their settlement was around the town of "Sebes" (now: Sebeș) which later became populated mainly by Transylvanian Saxons.