The name ' (used by Ptolemy) may be pre-Celtic. Ptolemy calls Islay "",Watson (1994) p. 37. and the use of the letter "p" suggests a Brythonic or Pictish tribal name, ,Watson (1994) p. 45. because the root is not Gaelic.Gammeltoft, Peder "Scandinavian Naming-Systems in the Hebrides – A Way of Understanding how the Scandinavians were in Contact with Gaels and Picts?" in Ballin Smith et al (2007) p. 487. Woolf (2012) has suggested that ' may be "an Irish attempt to reproduce the word ' phonetically, rather than by translating it", and that the tribe's name may come from the root ', meaning "horse".Woolf, Alex (2012) Ancient Kindred? Dál Riata and the Cruthin . Academia.edu. Retrieved 21 January 2015. Watson (1926) also notes a possible relationship between ' and the ancient Irish Ulaid tribal name ', and also the personal name of a king (recorded in the Silva Gadelica).
The name ' (used by Ptolemy) may be pre-Celtic. Ptolemy calls Islay "",Watson (1994) p. 37 and the use of the letter "p" suggests a Brythonic or Pictish tribal name, ,Watson (1994) p. 45. because the root is not Gaelic.Gammeltoft, Peder "Scandinavian Naming-Systems in the Hebrides – A Way of Understanding how the Scandinavians were in Contact with Gaels and Picts?" in Ballin Smith et al (2007) p. 487. Woolf (2012) has suggested that ' may be "an Irish attempt to reproduce the word ' phonetically, rather than by translating it", and that the tribe's name may come from the root ', meaning "horse".Woolf, Alex (2012) Ancient Kindred? Dál Riata and the Cruthin . Academiaedu. Retrieved 21 January 2015. Watson (1926) also notes a possible relationship between ' and the ancient Irish Ulaid tribal name ', and also the personal name of a king (recorded in the Silva Gadelica).