"Greek Personal Names" in Egypt goes online

 We’re thrilled to share that Oxford University Press has published Greek Personal Names in Egypt online - the newest title in the Oxford Studies in Ancient Documents (OSAD) series. Edited by Adrienn Almásy-Martin and Yanne Broux, the volume showcases cutting-edge research on Greek onomastics in Graeco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt, and is available to read now on Oxford Academic. Print copies are due 25 September 2025.

Why this volume matters

Egypt is uniquely rich in documentary evidence: papyri survive there on a scale unparalleled elsewhere around the Mediterranean. That trove lets scholars observe naming practices in everyday contexts - far beyond what literary or epigraphic sources alone can reveal. This book grows out of a long-standing collaboration between Oxford’s Lexicon of Greek Personal Names (LGPN) and Leuven’s Trismegistos, especially the TM People database - resources that helped drive the “digital turn” in onomastic studies. 

What’s inside

The chapters take on today’s big questions and tomorrow’s research directions, including:

1. surveys of naming practices;

2. the social meaning of name choice and use;

3. local interpretations of foreign names;

4. name change in a plural religious/cultural sphere;

5. bilingualism and language shift;

6. names as markers of ethnic and religious identity;

7. names as evidence for cross-cultural interchange. 

About the editors

• Dr Yanne Broux is a Research Fellow in Ancient History at KU Leuven and the manager of Trismegistos People. She previously collaborated on the AHRC-funded LGPN VII: Lower Egypt and the Fayum project.

• Dr Adrienn Almásy-Martin is Project Curator for Demotic Ostraca at the British Museum. She worked on LGPN VII and later lectured in Egyptology at Oxford’s Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies; she is currently a Visiting Research Associate at the Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents (CSAD). 

Series & partners

Greek Personal Names in Egypt appears in OSAD, overseen by Oxford’s Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents (CSAD). The series’ General Editors are Alison Cooley and Andrew Meadows (Director of LGPN since 2024), reflecting OSAD’s close ties to major epigraphic and onomastic initiatives. 

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Read and cite

Dive into Greek Personal Names in Egypt on Oxford Academic; bibliographic details and the table of contents are live now, with hardback publication scheduled for 25 September 2025.

Background on LGPN and Trismegistos for further context: LGPN (Oxford) and TM People (Leuven) remain foundational reference points for the study of Greek personal names and the prosopography of Egypt, respectively.