The origin of the name Vatican is unclear. It has nothing to do with the Bible, Greek language or Latin, but most researchers think the name was borrowed from the Etruscan language.
More than twenty-eight centuries ago, and before the legendary founding of Rome the mysterious Etruscans ruled the region of the Mediterranean before the rise of Rome.
Although the Etruscans developed a system of writing, the Etruscan language remains only partly understood, and only a handful of texts of any length survive, making modern understanding of their society and culture heavily dependent on much later and generally disapproving Roman and Greek sources.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the origin of the name Vaticanus is uncertain; some claim that the name comes from a vanished Etruscan town called Vaticum.
The Etruscans did not bury their dead inside the walls of their cities. Instead, they built a large cemetery on a hillside slope outside of their ancient city in the area that later became the city of Rome. The area, which is now St. Peter's Basilica, thus became known as the "Vatican".
The guardian was the Etruscan goddess Vatika. She was the goddess of the Underworld and it was her duty to keep a watching eye on those who had passed away.
It seems that the Etruscan’s beliefs about the afterlife were similar to those of ancient Egyptians. Treatment of the deceased's remains was important for survival and successful journey to next life.
Vatika had several other related meanings in ancient Etruscan. The name was not only associated with the goddess of the Underworld.
It was also the name of a bitter grape that grew wild on the graveyard slope, which the peasants made into what became infamous as the name of one of the cheapest (and worst) wines in the ancient world.
It was also the name of a hallucinogenic weed, that grew on the slope and when chewed, was thought to produced prophetic vision.
Vaticinia was the name of the Etruscans female oracles. And according to a Vatican curator, the Vatican Hill takes its name from the Latin word Vaticanus, a vaticiniis ferendis, in allusion to the oracles, or Vaticinia, which were anciently delivered here.
The word passed into Latin as a synonym for "prophecy". The Latin word vaticinor means "foretell, prophesy" from vatis "poet, teacher, oracle".
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