Yesterday, I featured Sumerian names from the Temple School of Nippur. Today’s selection comes from a range of sources and dates, but all are still genuine Sumerian names. Some are known to have been in use over five thousand years ago.
Amare ♂ ♀ — ‘calf of the temple’ < amar ‘young animal’ and ‘calf’ + é ‘temple’.
Amarenzu ♂ ♀ — ‘calf of Enzu’ < amar + Enzu, another name of the moon God Nanna < en ‘lord’ + zu ‘wisdom’.
Amarezen ♂ ♀ — ‘calf of the festival’ < amar + ezen ‘festival’, ‘feast’.
Amarkish ♂ ♀ — ‘calf of Kish’ < amar + Kish, the name of a Sumerian city < kiš ‘totality’ and ‘entire world’.
Amarsin ♂ ♀ — ‘calf of Sin’ < amar + Sin, another name of the moon God Nanna.
Baranamtarra ♂ ♀ – fate has been decreed for the king < bara ‘ruler’, ‘throne dais’, ‘dwelling’ + nam… tar ‘to decree the fate’ + suffix ra.
Eulli ♂ ♀ – ‘the temple into distant days’ (i.e. ‘may the temple last for a very, very long time!) < é ‘temple’ + ul-lí ‘distant days’.
Lugalme ♂ ♀ – a name taken from an incantation: lugal me galgal sag an šè ‘the king lifted up the great decrees unto heaven’.
Ninbaradari ♂ ♀ — ‘the queen is an everlasting dwelling’ < nin ‘lady’ and ‘queen’ + bara ‘ruler’, ‘throne dais’, ‘dwelling’ + darí ‘everlasting’; another name from an incantation.
Ninedinni ♂ ♀ — ‘the queen [has gone] to the plain of her own’ < nin ‘lady’ and ‘queen’ + edin ‘plain’ + ní ‘of her own’.
Ninshuel ♂ ♀ — ‘queen clean hands’ < nin + šu ‘hand’ + el ‘clean’; this is another name taken from a phrase in an incantation.
Urbau ♂ ♀ — ‘dog of Bau’ < ur ‘dog’ + Bau – a Sumerian Goddess (see Baunisheg in yesterday’s post).
Urnina ♂ ♀ — ‘dog of Nina’ < ur + Nina, a Sumerian Goddess identified with Ishtar.
Zimu ♂ ♀ — ‘my breath of life’ < zi ‘breath of life’, ‘soul’ + mu ‘my’.
Zimuandagal ♂ ♀ — ‘my soul is with Anu’ < zi ‘breath of life’ and ‘soul’ + mu ‘my’ + an ‘Anu’ + da-gal ‘to be with’.
Sadly, many Sumerian names are far too unwieldy for the tastes of most Westerners; some names comprised whole (and quite long!) sentences. But if you fancy a Sumerian name — and you have to admit, there’s a certain appeal about names from the earliest language ever to be written down — there are other options, which I’ll explore in future posts…
Nook of Names
