Coptic names

The oldest layer of the Egyptian naming tradition is native Egyptian names. These can be either traced back to pre-Coptic stage of the language, attested in Hieroglyphic, Hieratic or Demotic texts (i.e. ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ, ⲛⲁⲃⲉⲣϩⲟ, ϩⲉⲣⲟⲩⲱϫ, ⲧⲁⲏⲥⲓ) or be first attested in Coptic texts and derived from purely Coptic lemmas (i.e. ⲡⲁⲛⲓⲣⲁⲛ, ⲡⲁⲙⲃⲱ, ⲗⲟⲩⲗⲉ, ⲧⲁⲗⲟⲩϣⲏⲙ).

The conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great and subsequent rule of the Ptolemaic dynasty led to Hellenisation of Egypt, which led to adoption of a great number of Greek names by the Copts (i.e. ⲅⲉⲱⲣⲅⲓⲟⲥ, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ, ⲑⲉⲟⲇⲱⲣⲟⲥ, ⲑⲉⲕⲗⲁ, ⲕⲗⲉⲟⲡⲁⲧⲣⲁ), which was advanced even further by the Christianization and influx of Hellenised Hebrew and Aramaic names (i.e. ⲓⲱϩⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ, ⲓⲱⲥⲏⲫ, ⲁⲃⲣⲁϩⲁⲙ, ⲉⲗⲓⲥⲁⲃⲉⲧ). Most names with exclusively pagan connotations, both Egyptian and Greek, fell out of use after the 3rd century, although some persisted, taken from the martyrdoms of venerated saints, e.g. Anoup, Phib, Diogenes, Phoibammon, Shenoute, Sarapion, Onnophris.^[1]

The Roman conquest of Egypt added Latin names to Egyptian naming tradition (ⲃⲓⲕⲧⲱⲣ, ⲥⲉⲩⲏⲣⲟⲥ). Over time, many of these foreign names were gradually Egyptianized, while some Egyptian names underwent Hellenization, resulting in the development of a distinctive syncretic Graeco-Egyptian naming tradition.

After the Arab conquests of the Middle East, the Arabs implemented a policy of strict segregation to subjugate the native inhabitants of the occupied lands, including the Copts in Egypt. This policy aimed to easily identify and exploit them financially. The second Caliph, Umar I, established a code known as "The Pact of Umar" that governed the relationship between ruling Muslims and the non-Muslim "People of the Book" (including Christians). The code restricted non-Muslims from using certain names, nicknames, and kunyas. The Sunni jurist Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya emphasized that Muslim names were reserved exclusively for Muslims, while non-Muslims were allowed to use their own names or shared names. However, non-Muslims were prohibited from using names that implied honor or virtue, e.g. Rashid (Arabic: رشيد, lit. 'rightly guided') or Salih (Arabic: صالح, lit. 'good').

Despite these strict restrictions, changes began to emerge over time. During the Fatimid Dynasty, which ruled Egypt from 969 to 1171 and followed the Ismaili branch of Shia Islam, there was a relative period of tolerance towards the Copts. The Fatimids sought the support of the educated Coptic population and relaxed some of the Sunni restrictions. As a result, Copts started assimilating into Arab and Muslim culture to escape social segregation and promote social mobility. This included adopting Arab and Muslim names for their children, as well as using nicknames and kunyas that were previously exclusive to Arabs and Muslims.^[2]

Some of the modern Coptic Arabic names are translation of Christian names and concepts from Coptic and Greek:

Diminutives and shortened forms are created by either removing one or more syllables from the beginning or end of the original first name to create a familiar or affectionate variation that is often used in casual or close relationships.^[3]

Coptic has a number of compound names, made by combining ⲁⲡⲁ, a Coptic rendering of the Greek word ἀββα (abba, “abba, father”), with a personal name of a saint or a martyr, whose honorific title "abba" became a part of his name (i.e. St. Abadir, St. Abamun, St. Abanub).^[4]

In recent years the original Coptic forms of the names get replaced with European ones, mostly from English, French and German, e.g. Maurice (Arabic: موريس, Coptic: ⲙⲱⲣⲓⲥ, ⲙⲁⲩⲣⲏⲥ) replaced the native Maurikios (Coptic: ⲙⲁⲩⲣⲓⲕⲓⲟⲥ, Arabic: موريكيوس) and George (Arabic: جورج) replaced Georgios (Coptic: ⲅⲉⲱⲣⲅⲓⲟⲥ, Arabic: جرجس, romanized: Girgis).

With the rise of Egyptology in the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, Ancient Egyptian names, often adopted from Ancient Greek "Egyptological" forms, gained prominence among the Coptic community, i.e. Ramesses or Ramsis (compare to Coptic: ⲣⲁⲙⲁⲥⲥⲏ, romanized: Ramassē, a form attested in the Bible), Amasis, Sesostris, Narmer.

The concept of second name and a surname wasn't developed in Classical Coptic, although epithets and nicknames were used to distinguish people, such as:

ⲁⲙⲉ "herd, pastor", ⲙⲁⲣⲏⲥ "Southener", ⲡⲉⲃⲱ "dumb", ⲡⲕⲱϩⲧ "fire", ⲡⲟⲩⲱⲛϣ "the wolf", ⲡⲓⲭⲁⲙⲉ "the black", ⲡⲓϧⲉⲙⲥ "ear of corn", ⲡⲉϭⲱϣ "Ethiopian, black", ⲡϭⲏϫⲉ "purple", ⲱ "great", ϣⲏⲙ "small", ⲗⲁⲙⲡⲟⲩⲥ (Gr.) "bright, shining", ⲧⲭⲉϩⲗⲓ (Ar.) "of the elders", ⲡⲓⲥⲧⲁⲩⲣⲟⲥ (Arabic: بسطاوروس, romanized: Bastawrus) "the cross".

Demonyms are based on the place of origin, formed by either using a prefix ⲡⲓⲣⲉⲙ- ("the man of") and it's female equivalent ϯⲣⲉⲙ- or by using possessive article ⲡⲁ- and it's feminine parallel ⲧⲁ- "the one of" (typical to Middle Egypt^[5]):

Masculine: ⲡⲓⲣⲉⲙⲣⲁⲕⲟϯ (pi-Remrakoti) "from Alexandria", ⲡⲓⲣⲉⲙⲡⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲓ (pi-Rempousiri) "from Pousiri", ⲡⲁⲛⲉ (Pane) "from Thebes", ⲡⲣⲟⲙⲉⲛⲉⲥⲓⲛⲁ (p-Romenesina) "from Sinai";

Feminine: ⲧⲁⲡⲓⲁⲙ (Tapiam) "from Faiyum", ⲧⲣⲟⲙⲡⲁⲃⲁⲓⲧ (t-Rompabait) "from Behbeit", etc.

The patronymics, like in many other languages, Coptic uses patronymics to establish lineage, differentiate individuals and provide practical identification within certain cultures by incorporating the father's name into a person's own name. In Coptic it's achieved by adding prefix ⲡϣⲉⲛ- (or it's forms ⲡⲥⲉⲛ-/ⲯⲉⲛ-), "the son of" or ⲧϣⲉⲛ- (or it's forms ⲧⲥⲉⲛ-/ϫⲉⲛ-) "the daughter of" to a father's name. Additionally, ⲡϣⲏ is used to translate Arabic patronymic (Arabic: ابن, romanized: ibn, lit. 'son of'). So if someones name is Tawadrus ibn Mīnā in Arabic, it would be Theodoros pshe Mena (ⲑⲉⲟⲇⲱⲣⲟⲥ ⲡϣⲏ ⲙⲏⲛⲁ) in Coptic.^[6]

• Trismegistos, an online database of Coptic names attested in Egypt
• The Arabic Papyrology Database, an online database of Coptic and Arabic papyri containing Egyptian personal names

• Heuser, Gustav (1929). Die koptischen Personennamen ägyptischen Ursprungs (in German). Dietrich.
• Stefan, Timm (1988). Das christlich-koptische Agypten in arabischer Zeit.
• W.E., Crum (1909) Catalogue of the Coptic manuscripts in the collection of the John Rylands library, Manchester. Manchester: University press.
• Ishak, Emile Maher (1975). The Phonetics and Phonology of the Boḥairic Dialect of Coptic and the Survival of Coptic Words in the Colloquial and Classical Arabic of Egypt and of Coptic Grammatical Constructions in Colloquial Egyptian Arabic. University of Oxford.