Nada Louai Elzouhairy

Nada Elzouhairy is a senior lecturer in Ancient Greek at Alexandria University (Egypt) and holds a PhD in the same field. She was a Fulbright visiting scholar at the University of Michigan (United States) in the autumn semester of 2023 and has presented at several conferences in Egypt, France and the United States. She is a member of the Archaeological Society of Alexandria, the American Society of Papyrologists, the International Association of Papyrologists, and the Society for Classical Studies.

The project

Title: An Anthroponomastic Study of European Personal Names in Egyptian and French Communities and Their Greek and Latin Origins

"This research project aims to study European first names within Egyptian and French communities, tracing their Greek and Latin origins. Many European first names, common in Mediterranean countries such as Greece, Cyprus, Italy and France, are also widespread in African Mediterranean countries (Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco) and in Levantine countries of the eastern Mediterranean (Lebanon, Syria, Turkey). The prevalence of first names of Greek and Latin origin highlights the continuity and influence of these languages in the modern era.

The study involves identifying the Greek and Latin roots of contemporary European first names by compiling a list of names commonly used in Egyptian and French communities, drawn at random from a variety of sources: interviews with parents of different generations, lexicons, telephone directories, names of historical and public figures, and the Coptic Synaxarium. It will also analyse the phonological and morphological changes these names have undergone over time, as well as the factors influencing their transmission and selection, including culture, traditions, literature, religion, art, euphony, and borrowings. Finally, the project will examine their evolution to the present day and explore the reasons for their persistence in both European and non-European countries."

Selected bibliography

• Elzouhairy, N. (2025). «An Onomastic Study of Two Family Archives from Karanis», Manuscript submitted for publication.
• Elzouhairy, N. (2025). Metaphorical imperative in documentary papyri from Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt. In: J.-L. Fournet, Ed., Actes du XXXe Congrès international de papyrologie (StudPAP 7), Paris, pp. 449–458.
• Elzouhairy, N. (2018). A Semantic Study in the Unreal Interrogation in Plato's Dialogue. Bulletin of Faculty of Arts 91, Alexandria University, pp. 653-667.