Where does “Esperanto” come from?

Esperanto comes from French espérer, derived from Latin sperare, meaning to hope or expect.

Ancestry of “Esperanto”, step by step

Step	Language	Word	Meaning
1	Esperanto	Esperanto	Esperanto; one who hopes
2	Esperanto	esperi	to hope
3	Portuguese	esperar	to wait; to hope; to expect; to anticipate
4	Old Portuguese	asperar	—
5	Old Spanish	esperar	—
6	Latin	spērō	—
7	Latin	spes	hope; expectation, anticipation, apprehension
8	Proto-Italic	spēs	hope
9	Proto-Indo-European	spéh₁s	prosperity, success
10	Proto-Indo-European	speh₁-	to succeed, to prosper