While we commonly recognize Egyptian pharaohs by a single name today, they actually held as many as five or six names. Alongside their birth names, upon ascending the throne, they assumed four additional names associated with their respective titles.
Since the dawn of ancient Egypt, pharaohs appended titles to their birth names, signifying their earthly or religious authority.
Upon ascending the throne, they adopted four distinct titles, for each of which they had to select a name—though historically, this task was often handled by the priests:
- Horus name
- Nebty (“two ladies“) name
- Horus of Gold
- Throne name (nsw-bity).
These titles often reflected a preference for a particular deity or highlighted a quality the ruler aimed to emphasize in their persona. Eventually, additional titles were incorporated, totaling five in all.
The name by which we currently identify the pharaohs corresponds to their birth name, examples being Hatshepsut, Ramses, or Thutmose.
Initially used to denote the pharaoh as an individual, from Dynasty IV onward, this name became linked to an initial title, “Son of Ra,” referencing the pharaoh as the earthly representative of the solar god.
This particular name is the sole constant across history and is distinguished by numerals—like Thutmose I or III—owing to the fact that many pharaohs’ children inherited their father’s name.
Titles and Their Significance
Of the remaining four titles, two trace back to ancient civilization’s origins. The Horus title dates to the genesis of pharaonic history, evident in the Narmer palette, which commemorates the first ruler of unified Egypt, credited as the founder of the First Dynasty.
Horus, the falcon deity, stood as the upholder of cosmic order, countering the chaos represented by Set, the deity embodying conflict and lordship over the desert.
One of his successors, Semerkhet, also introduced the title Nebty, which means “the two ladies,” referring to the protective deities of Upper and Lower Egypt: the vulture goddess Nekhbet and the cobra goddess Wadjet.
These deities served as protectors of the pharaoh against adversaries while also symbolizing the double crown of ancient Egypt, signifying the unified country.
The other two titles – Golden Horus and Nsw-Bity – emerged shortly afterward, during Dynasties III and IV respectively, and represent a form of redundancy from the previous titles, albeit with slightly different symbolism.
The Golden Horus reinforces the pharaoh’s role as a preserver of order amid chaos and incorporates gold as a symbol of eternity.
On the other hand, Nsw-Bity translates to “He of sedge and bee,” symbols respectively representing the Nile Valley and the Delta. These symbols again allude to the unity of the country, interpreting as “Lord of Upper and Lower Egypt” or “Lord of the Two Lands.”
So, how does one interpret a full name?
Taking Hatshepsut as an example, one of the few queens of ancient Egypt who ruled with full pharaonic powers, her complete name was:
Wesretkau Wadjrenput Netjeretkhau Maatkare Khnumt-Amun Hatshepsut.
- Horus name: Wesretkau, meaning “Mighty Spirit”
- Nebty name: Wadjrenput, signifying “She of the Two Ladies, prosperous years”
- Golden Horus: Netjeretkhau, denoting “Divine of appearance”
- Throne name (nsw-bity): Maatkare, translating to “Truth [Ma’at] is the ‘Ka’ spirit of Ra”
- Birth Name: Khnumt-Amun Hatshepsut, interpreted as “United with Amun, Foremost of Noble Ladies”.
