Hello, hope you’re doing fine! I was looking into names that could be used, in a modern setting, with sumerian subtext attributed to them (a bit convoluted of a context, I’m sorry). I’ve been thinking a lot about the word adda (𒇿), since it so closely resembles the modern name Ada, but has a very different meaning. With that said, would the name “Adda”, if used as a proper noun, have an inherently masculine connotation, because of the “father” (𒀜𒁕) attribution? Are there any workarounds, ways people would discern without context? I know most living creatures don’t know a lick of sumerian – myself included ._. – and wouldn’t notice a thing, but I’m still caught up on these implications. Thanks in advance, really appreciate your work on the blog, keep it up.

Hello! I would definitely interpret adda as masculine, being "father," and clearly corresponding to ama "mother." However, the first vowel in modern Ada is more like the e vowel in Sumerian - and eda can have any of several meanings. While some, like eda 𒂍𒁕 "outhouse, shed," aren't great as names, eda 𒌓𒁺𒁕 is a participial form of the verb e 𒌓𒁺, meaning "emerging"! So eda "emerging" is…