According to Stephanus Byzantinus, this was the former name of the Athenian tetrapolis (four-cities). There are speculations regarding the etymology of the name. If it means "four cities" like in the Greek name, then parallels can be drawn between the Etruscan huθ 'four' (van der Meer, 2004) or 'six'. J. Whatmough (1937) also suggest the pre-Greek -την- 'city', common for other city names such as Τήνειον.

Another related word could be (pre-?)Hittite utnē, utni 'land' or utnii̯anta 'people, population', thereby another word for demos?