 Various theories have been proposed for the word Kilda 's origin , which dates from the late 16th century . No saint is known by the name . Haswell @-@ Smith ( 2004 ) notes that the full name St Kilda first appears on a Dutch map dated 1666 , and that it may have been derived from Norse sunt <unk> ( " sweet <unk> " ) or from a mistaken Dutch assumption that the spring Tobar Childa was dedicated to a saint . ( Tobar Childa is a tautological placename , consisting of the Gaelic and Norse words for well , i.e. , " well well " ) . Martin Martin , who visited in 1697 , believed that the name " is taken from one <unk> , who lived here ; and from him the large well <unk> @-@ Kilda has also its name " . 
