Its name in English is also spelled as Fayum, Faiyum or El Faiyūm.
The modern name of the city comes from Coptic / (whence the proper name ), meaning the Sea or the Lake, which in turn comes from late Egyptian pꜣ-ymꜥ of the same meaning, a reference to the nearby Lake Moeris; the extinct elephant ancestor Phiomia was named after it.