Seth has two separate origins: the first is that it is an Ancient Greek variant of Set, the name of an Egyptian god of chaos and the desert and the brother of Osiris and Isis. Though the meaning of Set is uncertain, some meanings prescribed to it are “pillar” or “dazzle”. Seth is also a Hebrew male name possibly meaning “placed” or “appointed”. However, it’s also been identified as belonging to the same word meaning “buttocks” and “tumult”.
Seth is also a surname, an anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Síthigh meaning “descendant of Sithigh”, the latter coming from a Gaelic name with several possible meanings such as “wolf”, “peace”, and “fairy”. I’ve also seen it listed as being derived from Old English seap meaning “dweller by the pool”. Seth is also an Indian surname meaning “merchant”, “banker”.
Origin: Ancient Egyptian, Hebrew, Gaelic, Indian
Variants:
- Zeth (English)
- Seath (English)
- Shet (Hebrew)
- Set (Ancient Egyptian)
- Sutekh (Ancient Egyptian)
Female forms:
- Setha (English)
- Sethy (English)
- Sethe (English)
