Neanderthal

From obsolete German Neanderthal, now spelled Neandertal, the name of a valley (German Tal, older also spelled Thal) near Düsseldorf where the first Neanderthal was discovered in 1856. A hollow near the valley was known as Neanderhöhle (“Neander Hollow”) and Neandershöhle (“Neander’s Hollow”) in the early 19th century, and the valley had been renamed to Neanderthal in 1850, in honour of the German Calvinist theologian and hymn writer Joachim Neander (1650–1680). Before, the valley was known as das Gesteins (literally “The Rocks [sg.]”) and Hundsklipp (literally “Dog Cliff”).

The name of Joachim Neander is based on the Ancient Greek translation (νέος (néos) + ᾰ̓νήρ (ănḗr)) of his original surname Neumann (“Newman”).

The pronunciation with the "th" sound (/θ/) is a spelling pronunciation; the original German word is pronounced with a "t" sound (/t/).