The original Latin name of the city was Valentia (/wa'lentia/), meaning "strength", "valour", the city being named for the Roman practice of recognizing the valour of former Roman soldiers after a war. The Roman historian Titus Livius (Livy) explains that the founding of Valentia in the 2nd century BC was due to the settling of the Roman soldiers who fought against Iberian local rebel, Viriatus.

During the rule of the Muslim Empires in Spain, it was known as بلنسية (Balansiya) in Arabic.

By regular sound changes, this has become Valencia [baˈlenθja] in Spanish and València [vaˈɫɛnsia] in Valencian. The Valencian pronunciation in the local dialect (in Valencian) is [baˈɫensia].