first appeared in the 9th century and it is found in Arabic sources from the 10th century.

The word Gárnata (or Karnata) possibly meant "hill of strangers". Another meaning might be "hill of pilgrims". It could even have been of Berber origin. Another theory is that it derived from Latin (or its plural ), meaning "seed", "beads", or a "scarlet colour", which would have been adapted into Arabic as ' or '. The Arab chronicler Al-Maqqari