The date of the arrival of the first Romani groups in Hungary cannot exactly be determined. Sporadic references to persons named Cigan, Cygan or Chygan or to villages named Zygan can be found in charters from the 13th–14th centuries. However, persons bearing these names may not have been Romani, and it has not been proven that Zygan was inhabited by Romani people in the 14th century. Accordingly, these names seem to have derived from an Old Turkic word for straight hair (sÿγan), instead of referring to Romani people in Hungary.
