After discussing the historical processes that led to Arabian names being recorded in Babylonian texts, especially during the reign of Nabonidus in the mid-sixth century BCE, the chapter offers an extensive overview of the Arabian toponyms, ethnonyms, and anthroponyms that are attested in these records.

In Babylonia, the name was used to establish the social identity of its bearer. Names attested to the piety of the family through frequent references to the protection of the divinity of the city or country. The name also marked the place of an individual within their kinship group. The frequent use of family names by the urban elite of the first millennium BCE, often referring to a prestigious ancestor, made it possible to mark a person as belonging to a well-recognised family group. By contrast, slaves, oblates, and other dependents often only had their personal name and their social qualification.

This chapter discusses the typology and the social and gender aspects of Babylonian female names recorded in the Neo-Babylonian and Persian periods (626–330 BCE). As to typology, a distinction is made between names that constitute a sentence and those that constitute a noun. In both categories, further subdivisions are possible. As to the social use of female names, the chapter discusses how names indicate the social status and origins of their bearers. Although most female names were given to women of any social status, some names were typical of enslaved women. Finally, the chapter discusses the distinctions between male and female names.