The Parts of Kesteven (/ˈkɛstəvən/ or /kəˈstiːvən/) are a traditional division of Lincolnshire, England.

This division had long had a separate county administration (quarter sessions), along with the two other Parts of Lincolnshire, Lindsey and Holland.

The name Kesteven is first attested in the late tenth century Latin translation of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle by Æthelweard, in the form Ceoftefne (agreed by scholars to be a scribal error for Ceostefne).

[1][2][3] The first part of the name comes from the Common Brittonic word *ceto- ("woodland"), still found in Modern Welsh as coed.

The rural districts were re-organised by a County Review Order in 1929, to create four new districts named after points of the compass:[9] These separate county councils were abolished in 1974 and Lincolnshire (minus the northern part of Lindsey) had a single county council for the first time, although the names of the Parts survive in some of the names of district councils.