#sumerian onomastics

[sumerianlanguage]

I was wondering if you knew of any taboo or 'in poor taste' names in Sumerian? For example you couldn't name a kid Judas or Lucifer today really even though the literal meaning of the name isn't negative. Would you be cursing your kid if you named them Huwawa?

What an interesting question! I don't really know of a great way to answer it, since there isn't a great resource out there on Sumerian onomastics generally.

That said, I doubt anyone would name a child Huwawa - in part because it's not really a "Sumerian" name. The w sound doesn't exist in Sumerian, and Huwawa's name is intended to sound foreign and/or onomatopoeic (like the bellowing of a monster).

If anyone has any further thoughts (or resources) on Sumerian onomastics, I'm always all ears!

[sumerianlanguage]

Hello, hope you’re doing fine! 

I was looking into names that could be used, in a modern setting, with sumerian subtext attributed to them (a bit convoluted of a context, I’m sorry). I’ve been thinking a lot about the word adda (𒇿), since it so closely resembles the modern name Ada, but has a very different meaning. 

With that said, would the name “Adda”, if used as a proper noun, have an inherently masculine connotation, because of the “father” (𒀜𒁕) attribution? Are there any workarounds, ways people would discern without context? I know most living creatures don’t know a lick of sumerian – myself included ._. – and wouldn’t notice a thing, but I’m still caught up on these implications.

Thanks in advance, really appreciate your work on the blog, keep it up.

Hello! I would definitely interpret adda as masculine, being "father," and clearly corresponding to ama "mother." However, the first vowel in modern Ada is more like the e vowel in Sumerian - and eda can have any of several meanings. While some, like eda 𒂍𒁕 "outhouse, shed," aren't great as names, eda 𒌓𒁺𒁕 is a participial form of the verb e 𒌓𒁺, meaning "emerging"! So eda "emerging" is probably how I'd do a sound-match to the modern name Ada. I hope that helps!

[sumerianlanguage]

Hi, i love your blog, can i ask what Gilgamesh's name mean? I can't find it

Hello, and thanks! The name Gilgamesh 𒀭𒄑𒂆𒈦 is actually the Akkadian name, and is derived from his earlier Sumerian name, most often rendered Bilgames 𒀭𒄑𒉋𒂵𒎌. Bilga 𒉋𒂵 means "ancestor, elder relative", as in someone you're related to who's older than you, derived from pabilga 𒉺𒉋𒂵 which means "paternal grandfather, paternal uncle" or possibly another male paternal ancestor. Mes or mesh is "hero, young man, masculine". (This word is written several ways in cuneiform, but in this name is most often 𒎌).

This combination is most often read to mean something like "male hero-ancestor, masculine elder, young heroic man who is also a paternal ancestor". However, the exact type of ancestor he's meant to be is a point of contention, and who exactly he's an ancestor to. And his name was also spelled a number of different ways which can have their own interpretations.

[sumerianlanguage]

Hi, I was wondering if you could give a translation for Gilgamesh’s grandson’s name, Udul-kalama in English. Thank you!

Hi there! Udul-kalama's name is written 𒌋𒊨𒌦𒈠 in cuneiform. The kalama 𒌦𒈠 element is easy, meaning "of the land" or "in the land". However, I don't know of this combination of signs for udul having a separate meaning - udul, written with other signs like 𒀖𒆪 or 𒌑𒁺, usually means "chief herdsman". I wouldn't be surprised if it means "chief herdsman of the land", just with an odd selection of cuneiform signs.

[sumerianlanguage]

I have had occasion to look real close at 𒀭𒄑𒉋𒂵𒎌, and I get why 𒀭[DIĜIR] is there, and 𒉋𒂵𒎌 [BIL₂.GA.MEŠ] are clearly phonetic components---but what the hell is 𒄑 [GIŠ] doing there? it's not pronounced (evidently), but as a determiner it doesn't seem to make much sense to me (used for wooden objects and trees), and 𒄑𒉋𒂵 [(GIŠ) BIL₂.GA] as "male ancestor" with a determiner for wooden objects/trees *haunts* me, but I can't find a source for that. What's going on with 𒄑 in this name?

You know, I can't find a good source on why 𒄑 appears in this name, as I don't think scholars agree on why it's there. The most common theory seems to be that the bilga element may derive from pabilga 𒉺𒉋𒂵 "paternal grandfather, paternal uncle". Halloran lists bilga as being "a plant-breeder's terminology for a human ancestor", as pa 𒉺 has "branch" as its most basic meaning, like the branch of a family tree. Somewhere along the line, the 𒉺 sign of (pa)bilga got reinterpreted as the similar-looking 𒄑 (and related meaning, branch > tree), and thus got stuck in the name of Bilgamesh and presumably others derived from the same root.

However, not all sources agree on pabilga as being a proven etymology for bilga at all, so take all this with a grain of salt. And check out this prior post on the meaning of Gilgamesh's name.

[sumerianlanguage]

Hi!! Thank you for creating such a nice blog with a whole bunch of intresting information, your posts help me with understanding Sumerian culture a lot!!!

I have one question regarding names and personal gods in Sumer. Was a personal god chosen by birth or the person could decide by themselves? I'm also intrested in how did parents choose a name of a child or, maybe, it was done by someone else? Could one change their name later in life? I found little to no info on this topic but it kept sitting in my head for weeks now

Thank you in advance if you'll answer on my questions! <3

Hi, and thank you so much for the kind words!

"Personal gods" in Mesopotamian religion aren't quite "personal" in the modern sense. The ones we have examples of were generally inherited - so a given "personal" deity would actually be more like a family deity. In royal lineages, this would be the same as the patron deity of a city, so the rulers of Uruk (whose city deity was Inanna) would also have Inanna as their "personal"/family deity.

There are many fewer examples of such "personal deities" for non-royal, regular people, and in fact they're generally referred to not as "gods" but more like "guardian/tutelary spirits", alad (generally masculine) and lamma (generally feminine). I don't think they're ever referred to by specific names, instead being a (nameless) member of a broad class of such spirits. Hymn to Inanna C says that Inanna is responsible for assigning these minor deities, but not how or when they'd be assigned.

As far as I know, names were assigned by the parents at birth. There is a verb phrase for "to give as a name", mu(she) sa, but I can't find an example of it in use with this meaning (the ePSD doesn't have it as an entry separate from mu "name"). Based on my understanding of this verb, the name would be the direct object, the person named would be dative, and the word "name" would be terminative, so Ngae [name] mushe murabsan "I give [name] to you as a name" - but if someone can find an example of this or correct the structure, please do so! And, like you, I can't find a clear example of someone changing their own name later in life.

I hope that's helpful!

[sumerianlanguage]

What did Sumerian names sound like? I see the names of the deities and kings, but what kinds of names were given to average people?

If there was a list of most frequent questions I get, this one would probably be #1 - and it's certainly my #1 question I don't have an answer for. There is no comprehensive source on Sumerian names or name systematics, unfortunately. (If anyone has such a source, please reblog with it below!) And if you want a sampling, do check out my Sumerian onomastics tag.

[sumerianlanguage]

Hi! Apologies if you've answered something like this before (Tumblr's search function is terrible), but do you know of any resources on names and/or naming conventions? I'm trying to name a character but I don't just want to name him with a noun or smash words together willy-nilly.

Hi, and I feel you about tumblr's search system. This is almost certainly the most common question I get these days - and I still don't know of any clear, comprehensive resource on Sumerian naming. Your best bet is to find a name that's already in use, since that's the only way I can guarantee it's a legit Sumerian name.

Barring that, Sumerian names generally had pretty transparent meanings, so if you have a noun or phrase you think would work as a name, I'd gladly help with the translation/combination accuracy (to avoid, as you said, willy-nilly smashing). And you can also peruse my Sumerian onomastics tag if you want examples & inspiration!