 Maclean ( 1972 ) further suggests that the Dutch may have simply made a cartographical error , and confused Hirta with Skildar , the old name for Haskeir island much nearer the main Outer Hebrides archipelago . Quine ( 2000 ) hypothesises that the name is derived from a series of cartographical errors , starting with the use of the Old Icelandic Skildir ( " shields " ) and appearing as Skildar on a map by Nicholas de Nicolay ( 1583 ) . This , so the hypothesis goes , was transcribed in error by Lucas J. Waghenaer in his 1592 charts without the trailing r and with a period after the S , creating S.Kilda. This was in turn assumed to stand for a saint by others , creating the form that has been used for several centuries , St Kilda . 
