The name Vatican city was first used in the Lateran Treaty, signed on 11 February 1929, which established the modern city-state. The name is taken from Vatican Hill, the geographic location of the state. "Vatican" is derived from the name of an Etruscan settlement, Vatica or Vaticum meaning garden, located in the general area the Romans called vaticanus ager, "Vatican territory".

“There are only three places that have a ‘the’ in the front of their name: the Vatican, The Hague, and the Bronx.” —Mary Higgins Clark