# The names are drawn from the ordinary sign stock, with no language signal

> Still possible: The archaic names are built from the ordinary administrative sign stock with no preference for or against the Sumerian name elements, so…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/answers/ANS0DFQRTNBNKDM/the-names-are-drawn-from-the-ordinary-sign-stock-with-no  
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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 are drawn from the ordinary sign stock, with no language signal

The archaic names are built from the ordinary administrative sign stock with no preference for or against the Sumerian name elements, so their sign make-up does not identify a language.

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

## Where it stands

**Still possible** One piece of evidence for, two against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

## What it predicts

- The element share of names falls inside the null's central 95% against both baselines.
- Almost every sign used in names is also used in non-name entries.

## What would rule it out

- A clear enrichment or deficit, holding across archives and against a tagged Early Dynastic benchmark.

## Evidence 1 for · 2 against

[By the pre-declared rule the names show no preference, and almost all their signs are ordinary administrative signs](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/evidence/EVD0DFQST0K2V01/by-the-pre-declared-rule-the-names-show-no-preference-and)

Suggestive

FOR

[The names are not drawn from the ordinary sign stock the way labels are](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/evidence/EVD0DG2M9TEDMTQ/the-names-are-not-drawn-from-the-ordinary-sign-stock-the-way)

Suggestive

AGAINST

[The names' sign make-up does carry information: it rules out a Sumerian name pattern](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/evidence/EVD0DFVRBFA614X/the-names-sign-make-up-does-carry-information-it-rules-out-a)

Suggestive

AGAINST

## 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 are drawn from the ordinary sign stock, with no language signal [Answer ANS0DFQRTNBNKDM]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DFQRTNBNKDM
```

Key

**ANS** 0DFQRTNBNKDM

Kind

Answer · hypothesis

Proposed

[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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