Ancient Egyptian Names

Many names contained those of the gods, especially that of Amen, the chief god. The heretic king, Amenhotep IV, changed to worship of the sun's disc, Aten, as supreme and changed his name to Akenaten. After his death, the old religion was reinstated and his young successor, Tutankhaten, became Tutankhamen. As the language, religion and customs of the country remained broadly similar throughout the dynastic period, it would seem likely that names did too so no attempt has been made to distinguish between dates here. Common elements occur during the whole period. These include 'mery' (beloved) and 'nefer' (beautiful) which could be used for either sex. If a commoner owed a great deal to a Pharaoh or particularly wanted to show him respect he might change his name to one based on his. As neither hieroglyphics nor the demotic alphabet indicated vowels, many variations of spelling have arisen.

Male

This collection of names was compiled by Kate Monk and is ©1997, Kate Monk.

Copies may be made for personal use only.