Ramesses (/ræˈmɛsiːz/ or /ˈræməsiːz/), also commonly spelled Rameses or Ramses (/ˈræməsɛs/, /ˈræmsɛs/, or /ˈræmsiːz/), is the name conventionally given in English transliteration to 11 Egyptian pharaohs of the later New Kingdom period.
Other variants of the name include Ramose and Paramessu; these various spellings could be used to refer to the same person.
The various forms are based on the Greek (Ραμεσσυς: Ramessus), Latin (Ramesses), or Hebrew (רעמסס: Raˁamses, Raˁmeses) forms of the name, all ultimately based on the Ancient Egyptian form: rˁ-ms-sw (𓅭𓇳) "Ra [is] the one who gave birth [to] him".
The name (רעמסס: Raˁamses, Raˁmeses) occurs in the Hebrew Bible, not as the name of a king but rather the name of one of the two cities which was built for the Pharaoh of the oppression by the forced labor of the Israelites (Exodus, 1:11), the other such city being Pithom.
Thus, the name was known to Jews and Christians long before the advent of modern Egyptology.