Guidelines to DBMNT Names

DBMNT Names is the first, and hopefully not the last sub-base of IM References, treating in detail the most immediate personal identifier, one’s own name. It was created in the framework of my project ‘What’s in a name?’ A study on the onomastics of Christian Nubia, financed by the National Science Centre of the Republic of Poland and realised at the University of Warsaw in the years 2016–2018.

The information gathered here allows for comprehensive research on medieval Nubian naming practices. All names are described by four categories:

• Structure: the names can be simple, that is forming single indivisible units, including both complete words functioning as names and words to which an onomastic suffix was attached (e.g. Isaak, Agathos, Kollouthos), and compound, meaning all names in which two distinct onomastic, lexical, or grammatical elements are combined into a single unit (e.g. Epimachos, Apakyros, Michaelinkouda).
• Type: the names can be monolingual, that is involving elements, morphological, grammatical, or lexical, coming from a single language (e.g. Andreas, Daniel, Kapopi), hybrid, that is combining elements of two different linguistic domains (e.g. Menanta, Tanastasia, Michaelikol), and monolingual with hybrid variants, that is names which are essentially monolingual, but can appear in Greek-, Coptic-, Nubian-, or Arabised forms (e.g. the name Abraham which has a hybrid Greco-Semitic variant ⲁⲃⲣⲁⲁⲙⲓⲟⲥ).
• Genealogy: a number of possibilities have been singled out, for which see the list.
• Origin: the names can be foreign, when they are attested outside Nubia, or local, that is used only in the Middle Nile Valley, regardless of their linguistic genealogy (e.g. the Greek name Martyrophoros or the apparently Arabic name ‘Abd ‘Īsā).

A set of tags further describes the name’s character when it comes to its meaning. Thus the names can be either religious or non-religious. Within these two big categories, a number of subgroups have been singled out defining whether the name refers to, for instance, any known Christian (e.g. Iesous) or Muslim (e.g. Muḥammad) holy figure or describes one’s physical appearance (e.g. the Nubian name Mogodikonya, that is ‘goat-face’).

Last but not least, the details of etymology, when they are known, are also introduced here, along with information on possible religious inspirations for certain anthroponyms.

There are currently 1,738 names in DBMNT Names, including 113 ghost names, which occur in 2,576 variants, including 122 ghost variants. DBMNT Name numbers are compatible with TM Nam numbers. For the time being, only those names that existed in TM People prior to creating DBMNT Names are linked; the remaining ones will be integrated at a later stage.

From the starting site of DBMNT Names you can either go directly to a particular record (by entering its DBMNT number in the field ‘Name no.’), launch a search, or simply browse the list of all records. Clicking on the item on the list will display the detailed card of the object beneath the list.

Description of the fields

• Name – standard romanised version of the name; Arabic names are presented in the ALA-LC standard, other names take conventional form without diacritics
• Gender (list)
• Structure – see above (list)
• Type – see above (list)
• Genealogy – see above (list)
• Origin – see above (list)
• Etymology
• Literature
• Character:
  • religious (list)
  • secular (list)
  • unknown

Names the reading of which is uncertain are marked with an encircled question mark sign () to the right. Likewise, ghost names are marked with the icon of a ghost () to the right.

The tabs ‘Variants’, ‘References & Texts’, and ‘Person’ link the name with the respective elements of the remaining tables.

DBMNT Names search

The following search fields are accessible:

• DBMNT Name no.
• Name
• Ghost name
• Gender (list)
• Structure (list)
• Type (list)
• Genealogy (list)
• Origin (list)
• Character:
  • religious (list)
  • secular (list)
  • unknown