Bošnjani (sing. Bošnjanin; Latin: Bosniensis) was the local Slavic name for inhabitants of Bosnia during the Middle Ages.
It appeared in a number of documents from the period, in most cases coupled with the word Good ("Dobri"). Debate on the exact nature of the term is inconclusive. Some historians believe that it indicates a unique ethnicity while others believe that it indicates a geographical identity, rather than an ethnic. Today the name is considered archaic, and is used only in the correct historical context.
The records of the term date to the 12th century in the Medieval Bosnian kingdom. Bosnia was originally a part of the early Medieval Serbian realm, but as of the 12th century, it goes on its own path as an independent Medieval realm. It is hypothesized that the presence of the Serb ethnonym is a remainder of prior Serb rule, whereas as the time passes, it is no longer present in the Late Middle Ages and solely the term Bošnjani emerges, implying the ethnogenesis of a new South Slavic tribe, whose ethnic development is obviously significantly formed by the heretic Bosnian Church. As Bosnia has went on its own road of historical development, a new Serb state was formed to the east of the Drina known as Rascia. While it is memorable that Rascia or Serbia was called that by both of those names in both foreign and domestic documentary sources, it is noticeable that all Bosnian referrals to the Serbian Medieval realm are exclusively Rascian. All Serb- references in domestic Bosnian documentary sources are either early self-referrals, or the description of the Kotromanićs' crown (the Bosnian kings wore the Serb crown and styled themselves as Serb kings). This specific usage is further supportive of the ethnic origin of the Bošnjani and their theoretical constitution, keeping in memory that those living across the Drina river are "Rascians" to the end, and never acknowledging them as "Serbs".
During the Ottoman era the preferred term for an inhabitant of Bosnia came to be Bošnjak (see also Bosniak and Bosniaks), with the suffix "-iak" replacing the traditional "-anin". During the Austro-Hungarian era the term Bošnjak was also preferred until the beginning of the 20th century. The situation changed again in the 20th century, as Bosanac (see also Bosnian and Bosnians) came to be the preferred term. Following their national awakening and rebirth in the early 1990s, Bosniaks re-established the (by then) archaic term Bošnjaci (Bosniaks) for their nation based on the word's historical ethno-geographic connotations.