It is highly probable that the name "Kyiv" is unrelated to the legendary figure Kiy, a notion that has been proposed by scholars in the past. Furthermore, the modern ukrainianized spelling of Kyiv may be leading us further from its true etymology.
Arabic sources, which documented the city earlier than any other known records, present a markedly different name: Куяба or Kuyaba. This spelling appears, for instance, in Abu Said Al-Balkhi’s Types of Countries. The shift from "u" to "i" in the name—a pattern observed in thousands of global toponyms—likely stems from a misinterpretation of the Greek letter upsilon (y). When borrowed into Latin, upsilon, originally pronounced as [u], was often mistaken for [i]. Accounting for this "upsilon problem," the Arabic rendering of the city’s name, Kuyaba, appears to be a more accurate reflection of its original form.
This preference for the Arabic sources is further supported by the striking similarity between Kuyaba and the Kartvelian word kuabi (ქუაბი), meaning "cave." Kyiv is indeed a city built upon an extensive network of approximately 250 caves, which, according to speleologists, extend nearly to Chernigov. The significance of caves in the city’s identity is also evident in the name of its spiritual heart, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, where pechera means "cave" in Ukrainian.
Given this evidence, it seems unlikely that the name Kyiv derives from any source other than a simple reference to "cave," a name that would have been widely recognized by the region’s inhabitants. This interpretation is further reinforced by the Spanish word for "cave," cueva, which—when considering the correct pronunciation of upsilon—bears a remarkable resemblance to Kuyaba and Kyev.
Thus, the etymology of Kyiv as "Cave" aligns not only with its geographical and cultural landscape but also with historical linguistic records, offering a compelling case for its true origins.
Finally, the similarity with the Brazilian Cuiaba may turn out to be very far from being a coincidence...
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