Hieroglyphics Translator (Name in Egyptian Hieroglyphs)

How to use the hieroglyphics translator

1. Type a name. Spell it the way it sounds if the spelling is unusual. The tool writes sounds, not English letters.
2. Choose a reading direction. Egyptian could be written left to right or right to left. The signs always face the start of the line.
3. Keep the cartouche if you want the name inside the oval ring that framed royal names.
4. Press “Write in hieroglyphs” and copy the signs. The table lists every sign with its Gardiner number, what it shows and its sound.

How hieroglyph name writing works

Egyptian hieroglyphs had several kinds of sign. Some stood for whole words, some for two or three consonants, and about 24 stood for a single consonant. Egyptologists call that last group the uniliteral signs, and it is often described as the “hieroglyphic alphabet”. Egyptian scribes used these signs to spell foreign names, including the Greek and Roman rulers of Egypt, such as Ptolemy and Cleopatra. This tool uses the same signs.

English is matched to them by sound:

• sh → 𓈙 (the pool), kh → 𓐍, ch → 𓍿 (the tethering rope, ṯ), j → 𓆓 (the cobra, ḏ).
• a → 𓄿 (the vulture), e and i → 𓇋 (the reed), y → 𓇌 (two reeds), o, u and w → 𓅱 (the quail chick).
• l → 𓃭 (the lion), the sign scribes of the Ptolemaic period used for l in names like Ptolemy and Cleopatra.
• c → 𓎡 or 𓋴 (hard or soft), v → 𓆑, x → 𓎡𓋴, ph → 𓆑.
• Double letters are written once by default, because Egyptian writing did not double consonants.

Cleopatra → k l i w p a t r a → 𓎡𓃭𓇋𓅱𓊪𓄿𓏏𓂋𓄿

A caution about vowels: the Egyptian signs for a, i and w were really consonants or glides. Egyptian writing left most vowels out, so modern readers do not know how many words were pronounced. Using 𓄿 for every a is a modern convention for writing names, not how an Egyptian would have spelled them.

Hieroglyphic alphabet chart

The uniliteral signs with their numbers from Sir Alan Gardiner’s sign list, the standard reference in Egyptology.

Examples

Cleopatra

The tool’s default example. In real inscriptions, Cleopatra’s cartouche spells qlwpdrt, often with the vulture for the a sounds, a hand (d) where Greek had t, and a final t with an egg sign: the endings that marked a female name. The tool’s version is close to that but simpler.

Ramses

Ramses becomes 𓂋𓄿𓅓𓋴𓇋𓋴. The real name, Rꜥ-ms-sw, “Ra is the one who bore him”, was written with the sun disc for the god Ra and other word signs. A letter-by-letter spelling is a modern way of writing it.

Modern names

Sophia becomes 𓋴𓅱𓆑𓇋𓄿: s, the quail chick for o, the viper for ph, the reed for i and the vulture for a. Ahmed becomes 𓄿𓉔𓅓𓇋𓂧.

Reading direction and cartouches

Hieroglyphs could run in rows or columns, left to right or right to left. The rule is simple: animals and people face the start of the line, so you read towards their faces. Choose “Right to left” and the tool reverses the order and turns the signs to face right, as on many temple walls.

The cartouche is the oval loop with a bar at one end that encircles the names of kings and queens. It represents a loop of rope, and its name comes from French soldiers in Napoleon’s expedition, who thought it looked like a gun cartridge (cartouche). Cartouches were the key to decipherment: in 1822, Jean-François Champollion used the royal names on the Rosetta Stone and other monuments to work out the sound values of the signs. For more, read our guide on How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A Beginner's Guide.