The principal settlement is the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, while other significant towns include Livingston, Linlithgow, Bathgate, Queensferry, Dalkeith, Bonnyrigg, Penicuik, Musselburgh, Prestonpans, Tranent, North Berwick, Dunbar and Haddington.

It perhaps comes from the British *Lugudūniānā (Lleuddiniawn in Modern Welsh spelling), meaning "country of the fort of Lugus", the latter being a Celtic god.

[5] Lothian was settled by Angles at an early stage and formed part of the Kingdom of Bernicia, which extended south into present-day Northumberland and Durham.

Many place names in the Lothians and Scottish Borders demonstrate that the English language became firmly established in the region from the 6th century onwards.

Bernicia became distinct from other English territories at this time due to its links with the other Christian kingdoms in what is present-day Scotland and seems to have little to do with the Norse-controlled areas to the south.

[8] Despite this transaction, the control of Lothian was not finally settled and the region was taken by the Scots at the Battle of Carham in 1018 and the River Tweed became the de facto Anglo-Scottish border.

As late as 1091, the Chronicle describes how the Scottish king, Malcolm Canmore, "went with his army out of Scotland into Lothian in England".

[11][12] In the post-Roman period, Lothian was dominated by British-speakers whose language is generally called Cumbric and was closely related to Welsh.

[20] In 1975 the old county councils and burgh corporations were abolished under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, being replaced with regions and districts.

The Lothian Regional Council was responsible for education, social work, water, sewerage, and transport (including local buses within Edinburgh).