The name "Aberlady" has several possible origins. In Pictish, Aberlady may mean "Aber" - mouth or confluence, at "ledaig" - a smooth place, i.e. the bay. In the story of St Kentigern the name used was "Aberlessie" - meaning "the mouth of stench" - referring to the piles of rotting fish to be found there. More favorably, Christian tradition held that the name Aberlady was derived from an early chapel dedicated to "The Blessed Virgin Mary" commonly referred to as "Our Lady" - perhaps the ruins in the Luffness burial ground of Aberlady Kirk could be its site.