Of course, this is the Megrelian "-aia" morpheme, which we have already cited many times. Also, "-aia", as it was been said, may be a truncated adjective "-ali" plus the article "-a".
In Basque, the name is written as "Bizkaia", which makes us look for the root "bitsk-". It's very likely to be the Megrelian word ბიწკი (bitski) in the meaning of "toe of the foot". If we agree that the whole region was associated with the toe of the foot, then what should we look for, first of all? That's right, for a local folk dance, danced on toes.
To begin with, here is the story of Argentine football player Pablo Zabaleta about how he, as a child, went to the Basque center, where he danced a folkloric dance "on tiptoes":
"...sí, por ejemplo no hacíamos actividad deportiva alguna, eran comidas y después de comer llegaban los bailes típicos, bailar en punta de pie, ezpatadantza y ese tipo de cosas"...
In short, the Basques do have a traditional Bizkaia dance "kaxarranka". It is very clear, that it's danced on toes (more precisely, the heel and toe alternate). See the film "Dantza" for details.
But what about the official etymology of the word "Bizkaia"? As always: "discutida", which is, "controversial".
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