*

Richard Benham has it about right.

The name "Paris" is, strickly speaking, derived from the name of the Gallic tribe --the _Parisii_ (plural)-- while Lutece (in Latin; probably from a Gallic word) was the capital of the of these _Parisii_ and was, After the conqest of Gaul by Julius Caesar in 52-1 B.C., therefore properly and formally known as "Lutece parisiorum" ("Lutece of the Parisii").

In the same way, Southwest of _Lutece parisiorum_, _Autricum_ was the capital of the Gallic tribe of the _Carnutes_, and could be styled "Autricum carnutorum", or, in the Middle Ages, simply _Carnotum_ now known as Chartres.

The same thing happened to the other capital cities of the Roman province of _Gallia Lugdunensis_ (and elsewhere in the Empire, presumably) --the ancient (Gallic, Latinized) name a capital city of a Gallic tribe became known by the name of that tribe: cf. Sens, Lyon, Auxerre, etc.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs 46 mins (2004-09-19 17:47:29 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Julius Caesar, in his account of his Gallic Wars, appears to have been the first writer to mention the place : \"Lutecia, oppidum Parisiorum in insula fluminis Sequanae\", \"Lutecia, [the] stronghold of the [tribe of the] Parisii on an island in the Seine.\"

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs 51 mins (2004-09-19 17:53:20 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Of course, since Bianca has given us no context, Lutece could just refer to a very, very pricey restaurant in New York City (and another one, perhaps not quite as pricey, in Paris).

In which case \"Lutece\" means \"very good, but extremely over-priced food\".