Ancient and modern Egyptians share many habits, customs, and traditions, including the way they choose names for their newborns. This continuity is evident in the continued use of names with ancient Egyptian origins.
Among them is the name Rasha, which is believed to derive from the ancient Egyptian word “Rshwt”, meaning happiness or joy. Another example is Samir, which originates from the ancient Egyptian word “Smir”, meaning friend, a meaning that has remained unchanged in Arabic to this day.
This linguistic connection is documented in The Origins of the Vernacular in the Ancient Egyptian Language, a book by researcher Sameh Maqar.
The ancient Egyptians also tried to ward off the evil eye when giving their daughters names like “Wnr khtwsi” (she who nobody knows). They even used nicknames like “Tamia” (kitten) for their daughters and “Miri” (loved one) or “Bambai” (lion) for their sons.
They would name their children according to their nominal order like “Wati” (the only one or the first) or even name them after a religious festival like “Hor Moheb” (the god Hor), according to The Egyptian Family in the Ancient Ages by Abdel-Aziz Saleh.
Director of the Imhotep Museum in Saqqara Mamdouh Farouk said “a name held immense significance for the ancient Egyptians. The ancient Egyptian word for name was ‘ren’, one of the seven elements that formed a human being — the soul, the soul mate, the body, the shadow, the name, the heart, and the spirit in the afterlife.”
“The importance of the ‘ren’ lay in the belief that if a person’s name was erased from their tomb, they would be unable to be resurrected in the afterlife,” Farouk said, adding that “for this reason, our ancestors were extremely careful when choosing names and ensured they were inscribed on funerary scenes and within tombs.”
Even the deities, he added, followed this sacred principle, as these were believed to possess two names, one publicly known and another kept secret. The hidden name, he said, was believed to contain the source of the god’s power and strength.
Farouk gave examples of names that carried the meaning of good physical health like “Seneb” (healthy — the origin of the name Selim) or “Yout Ankh” (alive — the origin of the name Yehia), “Hesi” (praised) and “Snbfni” (meaning healthy for me).
According to Saleh, other names reflected hopes for a newborn’s health and vitality, such as “Ankh Tifi”, meaning “he will live long.” There were also ancient Egyptian names that expressed how precious and exceptional a son was considered to be within his family, underscoring the emotional value attached to children in ancient Egyptian society.
One such name, he said, was “Nb Sn” (master of his brothers, the origin of the name Sedhom). There were also the names “Ba ser” and “Ns re” (both meaning master). “Henut Sin” (their lady) was the name of the ancient Egyptian King Khufu’s wife, while “Nefertiti” was the name of King Akhenaten’s wife and means “the beautiful is coming”.
Some names were inspired by a newborn’s physical features, including skin tone. “If a baby was dark-skinned, he might be called ‘Kim’, meaning dark,” reflecting how the ancient Egyptians often drew directly from visible traits when choosing a name, Saleh said.
He added that a child could be called according to the conditions of his birth. For example, he might be called “Imsekh” (he came quickly) or Imhotep (he came peacefully). There were names that were both for females and males like “Ahmose” and “Eyhmose” (son or daughter of the moon).
Farouk explained that the ancient Egyptians sometimes called their children after the places they were born in, a trait that is still held onto today by some modern Egyptians. “They would call their children names like ‘Mn nfr’ or ‘Nfri’, for example, which resembles a modern Egyptian calling his son ‘Shabrawi’ (from the Cairo district of Shubra), for example,” he said.
He added that many ancient Egyptian names were linked to deities. Among them was “Hm Ra”, meaning “servant of Re”, a structure that closely resembles modern names such as Abdallah, meaning “servant of God”.
MAGIC: The ancient Egyptians believed in the magical power of names.
During the 18th Dynasty, papyri containing selected spells and blessings from the Book of the Dead were sold to be placed inside the coffins of deceased loved ones. Each papyrus included a blank space where the name of the departed would be written, ensuring that the individual would be properly identified and protected in the afterlife.
Saleh says in his book that the ancient Egyptians sometimes named their children “Hori” (of Hor) or “Ba di Osir” (the one given by Osiris) to express their proximity to the gods. They would not use the names of the gods directly when naming their children out of reverence for them, so a child named “Mri Ptah” (Ptah’s loved one) would only be called “Mri”, for example, and this is a habit of modern Egyptians as well. For instance, a child named Abdallah is sometimes called Abd.
To protect them from the evil eye or evil spirits, some people would name their children “Gar” (scorpion) or “Pino” (rat), or “Senhim” (grasshopper) or after another insect so that the child could repel them. Sometimes they would call them “two-headed”. Mothers would sometimes call their daughters “Gmt Muts” (her mother found her) to ensure that they would live.
The ancient Egyptians would sometimes name children in terms that expressed their personalities like “Wserhat” (courageous) or “Sngm Eb” (happy).
Like modern Egyptians, the ancient Egyptians used terms of endearment or nick names for their children. “They used nicknames like ‘Khufu’, which was originally ‘Khnwm Khufu Ye,’” Farouk said. Female names were often terms of endearment like “Nfrt” (beautiful). This last name was one of the most frequently used.
There were also other female names like “Nfrw” (beauty), “Pnrt” (tasty), “Seshn” (iris flower or lotus, the origin of the name Sawsan), and “Nefertari” (the name of the wife of King Ramses II, meaning their beauty).
Farouk said that there were other female names that expressed the optimism of the parents when welcoming a newborn like “Dwat Nfrt” (blessed morning) and “Wbt Nfr” (good tidings).
As for the sources of the names, Farouk explained that many are found in funerary paintings. The names of kings and ordinary citizens were inscribed in temples in cartouches, if they were kings’ names, or on the false doors found in every tomb starting from the Third Dynasty.
This door represented the passage a spirit would take to enter the afterlife, after presenting offerings to the gods. The offerings were made in the name of the deceased through a ritual inscription known as the “offering formula”, which was written on the door. This practice is reminiscent of the modern Islamic tradition of “Sadaqa Jariya”, where a donor writes the name of the deceased on a charitable endowment, ensuring ongoing blessings in their memory.
Funerary paintings from after the Middle Kingdom bore the images and names of the deceased and all his family members. It was believed that this was a way of providing the whole family with eternal bliss in the afterlife, Farouk said.
He added that in ancient Egypt some women of foreign origin were named after the country or the region they came from, like the names “Asia” (of Asian origin), “Hesi” (African), and “Thmet” (Libyan). One woman was named “Nbt Kbl” (from Gubeil in Lebanon).
The ancient Egyptians and modern Egyptians alike sometimes name their newborns after festivals or even the day they were born, such as “Hb” (feast in ancient Egyptian), for which the modern equivalent is “Eid”. They sometimes called their children after important jobs like the female name “Hst” (appraiser) or after adjectives like “Hisi” (praised).
“The most commonly used names in ancient Egypt were the names of fathers and grandfathers that were often repeated like the names of rulers. For example, there was the name ‘Thutmoses’, which were repeated many times, and there were 11 kings named ‘Ramses’. Citizens would do the same thing,” Farouk commented.
The ancient Egyptians might name their children after their favourite king or queen or add praise to them in their children’s names, like the name “Khufu Ankh” (long live Khufu), according to Saleh. They might use names related to the gods like “Km Re” (servant of Re) and “Bak Amun” (servant of Amun).
They might call their children after their jobs. “There is a woman named ‘Baket’ (servant) who worked as a servant, for example. There is a man named ‘Fshm Nfr’ (beautiful commander), and a queen named ‘Htb Heres’ (may her face be happy), for example,” he said.
“There are other names of kings that are related to the gods like ‘Eyeh Mus’ or ‘Ahmus’ (son of the moon) and queens like ‘Eyah Hoteb’ (the moon is satisfied), ‘Titi Sheri’ (little Titi).”
Names that express respect for the gods include “Ntr wsr” (the god is rich) or “Amun Wa” (Amun is one) and “Nfr Hrn Ptah” (beautiful is the face of Ptah).
* A version of this article appears in print in the 22 January, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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