# The names avoid Sumerian name elements (Englund)

> Still possible: The archaic names avoid the signs of the Sumerian name elements: the people listed had a naming tradition distinct from the Sumerian one…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/answers/ANS0DFQRTBS5NZP/the-names-avoid-sumerian-name-elements-englund  
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[Questions](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions)[Proto-cuneiform: the archaic texts of Uruk](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform)[Do the roughly 440 personal names in the archaic texts follow Sumerian, Semitic or some other naming pattern?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DEDTDFDF2VV/do-the-roughly-440-personal-names-in-the-archaic-texts)Answer

Answer · Proto-cuneiform: the archaic texts of Uruk

# The names avoid Sumerian name elements (Englund)

The archaic names avoid the signs of the Sumerian name elements: the people listed had a naming tradition distinct from the Sumerian one, as Englund argued.

**Still possible** Answers **1** question0

## Where it stands

**Still possible** None pieces of evidence for, one against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

## What it predicts

- Names will contain the signs of Englund's Sumerian element list less often than pseudo-names drawn from the corpus baseline (below the null's 2.5th percentile).
- The deficit will hold in each archive.

## What would rule it out

- The element share of archaic names is at or above the corpus baseline.

## Evidence none for · 1 against

[Englund's Sumerian name elements are not rarer in the archaic names than elsewhere in the corpus](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/evidence/EVD0DFQSJB59Z1F/englunds-sumerian-name-elements-are-not-rarer-in-the-archaic)

Supported

AGAINST

## Tested by 1 run

| Run | Measured | Result | Against | Decision | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Run | share of names containing at least one listed element, against a resampling null; token odds ratio with a tablet-cluster bootstrap | {'S_vs_B1': {'or_95': [1.09, 1.6], 'null_95': [0.074, 0.124], 'decision': 'NO PREFERENCE', 'observed': 0.124, 'odds_ratio': 1.35, 'null_median': 0.098}, 'S_vs_B2': {'or_95': [0.7, 1.38], 'null_95': [0.104, 0.159], 'decision': 'NO PREFERENCE', 'observed': 0.124, 'odds_ratio': 0.97, 'null_median': 0.13}, 'S+EN_vs_B1': {'or_95': [1.31, 2.2], 'null_95': [0.137, 0.2], 'decision': 'ENRICHED', 'observed': 0.265, 'odds_ratio': 1.8, 'null_median': 0.169}, 'S+EN_vs_B2': {'or_95': [0.79, 1.51], 'null_95': [0.215, 0.285], 'decision': 'NO PREFERENCE', 'observed': 0.265, 'odds_ratio': 1.11, 'null_median': 0.25}} | B1: 17,976 Uruk III administrative non-name entries · B2: 300 non-name entries on the 41 name tablets | Primary test (Englund's list S against the corpus baseline B1): NO PREFERENCE, at the upper edge of the null. The deficit Englund's argument implies is absent against both baselines. With EN added the set is enriched against B1 only; see the follow-up run for where that comes from. | |

## The questions it answers

[Do the roughly 440 personal names in the archaic texts follow Sumerian, Semitic or some other naming pattern?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DEDTDFDF2VV/do-the-roughly-440-personal-names-in-the-archaic-texts)

Part of [What language, if any, do the proto-cuneiform texts record?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DEDT73JJJ1B/what-language-if-any-do-the-proto-cuneiform-texts-record)

Open5 answers, none ahead

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). The names avoid Sumerian name elements (Englund) [Answer ANS0DFQRTBS5NZP]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DFQRTBS5NZP
```

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**ANS** 0DFQRTBS5NZP

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Answer · hypothesis

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[Session 2](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/sessions/SES0DFQTTSRHQFR/session-2-the-archaic-names-tested-against-englunds-sumerian) · 2 Nov 2026

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