The story
The placename is of Pictish origin, named after a tribe called the Catti, with the common Old Norse suffix -ness (“headland”). The tribe name is of uncertain origin, but compare *katus (“battle”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Caithness
Today it means: A historical county in the far north of Scotland, which was abolished and merged into Highland Region in 1975, which became the Highland council area in 1996. Full definition →