Kivila (Kivila)

Lit. Place of the stone. Although kivila could be a contraction of kiviküla (stone village, see Hiiela for -la ending), which used to be a slightly pejorative or mocking way of saying ‘town’, reflecting the grim grey gracelessness of the Soviet-built Lasnamäe housing estates, it’s probably not, simply indicating proximity to the Mustakivi erratic boulder. Based on the above reasoning, it could also come from, e.g., kivivälja or similar, simply designating the place you to go to dig up rock, Lasnamäe is, after all, on a limestone plateau, and numerous quarries operated there in the Middle Ages, supplying Tallinn with much of its building material. For other erratic boulders or erratic-themed locations, see Rändrahnu and Kurikneeme.