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There seems to be no consensus on this. The Scoti were mentioned by the later Romans (along with teh Picti) as people living in Caledonia. Also the concurrent Greek name was Skotos. According to the OED, there is no evidence to suggest that this was a native Gaelic or Welsh name. According to one conjecture attributed to Sir J. Rhys, the Gaulish personal name Scottos may have meant "tattooed". Another conjecture is that the name is related to the Greek word "skotos" meaning darkness (to southern European wanderers, the highlands of Caledonia definitely must have seemed darker than usual!)