The Isle of Bute, called Bute, is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, United Kingdom. It is divided into highland and lowland locations by the Highland Boundary Fault. Formerly a constituent island of the larger County of Bute, it is currently part of the council location of Argyll and also Bute. Bute's resident population was 6,498 in 2011, a decrease of simply over 10% from the figure of 7,228 recorded in 2001 against a history of Scottish island populations in its entirety expanding by 4% to 103,702 for the very same duration. The name "Bute" is of unclear origin. Watson and Mac an Tàilleir support a derivation from Old Irish bót ("fire"), probably in reference to signal fires. This recommendation to beacon fires may date from the Viking period, when the island was probably understood to the Norse as Bót. Other feasible derivations include Brythonic budh ("corn"), "success", St Brendan, or both, his reclusive cell. There is no likely derivation from Ptolemy's Ebudae. The island was also understood during the Viking period as Rothesay, perhaps referring to the personal name Roth or Roderick as well as the Old Norse suffix ey ("island"). This name was at some point taken by the major community on the island, whose Gaelic name is Baile Bhòid ("town of Bute").