as a Sumerian name meaning "House of Water" or "House of the Moon" are regarded as implausible by modern scholarship. In a few modern publications, the interpretation "House of Water" is sometimes presented as a scribal popular etymology. However, according to Lambert, there is no evidence for such a reinterpretation.

Due to the fact that the name appears associated with Semitic elements in the sources of the Old Akkadian Period, it has been suggested that Ea is most likely a Semitic name. It