Achilles' name can be analyzed as a combination of  () "distress, pain, sorrow, grief" and  () "people, soldiers, nation", resulting in a proto-form *Akhí-lāu̯os "he who has the people distressed" or "he whose people have distress".
ɐkˈɪliːz nˈeɪm kæn biː ˈænɐlˌaɪzd æz ɐ kˌɑːmbᵻnˈeɪʃən ʌv "dɪstɹˈɛs, pˈeɪn, sˈɑːɹoʊ, ɡɹˈiːf" ænd "pˈiːpəl, sˈoʊldʒɚz, nˈeɪʃən", ɹɪzˈʌltɪŋ ɪn ɐ pɹˈoʊɾoʊfˈɔːɹm ˈæstɚɹˌɪsk ˈækaɪlˈɔːoʊz "hiː hˌuː hɐz ðə pˈiːpəl dɪstɹˈɛst" ɔːɹ "hiː hˌuːz pˈiːpəl hæv dɪstɹˈɛs".