Russia
wiktionary
1538, from Medieval Latin Russi(“Russians”). Ultimately from Byzantine Greek Ρωσσία(Rōssía) (whence also Russian Росси́я(Rossíja, “Russia”)), from an earlier (10th century) ethnonym Ῥῶς(Rhôs) (Arabic رُوس (rūs), Old East Slavic Русь(Rusĭ, “ Rus”)), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rōþrą(“rudder”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁-(“to row”). See Finnish Ruotsi for more. Doublet of Rossija.
etymonline
Russia
1530s, from Medieval Latin Russi "the people of Russia," from Rus, the native name of the people and the country (source of Arabic Rus, Medieval Greek Rhos), originally the name of a group of Swedish merchant/warriors who established themselves around Kiev 9c. and founded the original Russian principality; perhaps from Ruotsi, the Finnish name for "Sweden," from Old Norse Roþrslandi, "the land of rowing," old name of Roslagen, where the Finns first encountered the Swedes. This is from Old Norse roðr "steering oar," from Proto-Germanic *rothra- "rudder," from PIE *rot-ro-, from root *ere- "to row."
Derivation from the IE root for "red," in reference to hair color, is considered less likely. Russian city-states were founded and ruled by Vikings and their descendants. The Russian form of the name, Rossiya, appears to be from Byzantine Greek Rhosia. Russification is from 1842.
