# Meaning of the name "Aseprite"?
**URL:** https://community.aseprite.org/t/meaning-of-the-name-aseprite/2183
**Category:** Site Feedback
**Created:** [November 2, 2018, 1:33am UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/meaning-of-the-name-aseprite/2183 "2018-11-02T01:33:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Domarius](https://community.aseprite.org/u/Domarius)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2018, 1:33am UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/meaning-of-the-name-aseprite/2183/1 "2018-11-02T01:33:33Z")
I’ve been using Aseprite for years, and still wondering the meaning behind the name. I was thinking this should be in the FAQ on the site.
When I first saw the name, I read “Ae-sprite”, but then I noticed the word “sprite” is broken up by an awkward E between the S and P. So I worked on getting my head around that ever since. I pronounce it “A-seh-prite”, like a 3 syllable word. That’s not a normal English word pattern, and so I’m curious - I have my suspicions that the name doesn’t have its roots in English, or at least, someone who doesn’t speak English as a first language!
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### Author:  [@logan\_avery](https://community.aseprite.org/u/logan_avery)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2018, 9:10pm UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/meaning-of-the-name-aseprite/2183/2 "2018-11-05T21:10:26Z")
I’ve been wondering this myself as well.
My best guess is that its a play on the Yoruba word Ase or Ashe which translates to “power, authority, command”
so Ase + sprite = aseprite (a powerful spriting software?)
Of course this is just a wild guess, so who knows.
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### Author:  [@dacap](https://community.aseprite.org/u/dacap)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2018, 11:04pm UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/meaning-of-the-name-aseprite/2183/3 "2018-11-05T23:04:47Z")
😄 Actually the “ASE” prefix came from “Allegro Sprite Editor,” the old name of Aseprite. Then I renamed to an easily _googleable_ term (a word with 0 results on Google), and [aseprite.org](http://aseprite.org) domain was available, so “Aseprite” was a great candidate for the new name of the program (+ keeping the old name as a prefix).
P.S. [Allegro](http://liballeg.org) was a game development library used to program ASE from the very beginning (this year Allegro was finally removed from the Linux port, and now we use our own code to handle windows and mouse/keyboard input).
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### Author:  [@Domarius](https://community.aseprite.org/u/Domarius)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2018, 2:31am UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/meaning-of-the-name-aseprite/2183/4 "2018-11-06T02:31:31Z")
Personally I think that’s interesting enough to have it’s own entry in the FAQ! Good thinking to come up with something that doesn’t have any other matches on Google. And I remember reading about Allegro back in the DOS days. It makes me curious about how old Aseprite is.
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### Author:  [@devilsgarage](https://community.aseprite.org/u/devilsgarage)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2019, 8:24am UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/meaning-of-the-name-aseprite/2183/5 "2019-06-13T08:24:59Z")
It would be a super cute easter egg if you could add a “Aseprite” soundbite to already cute easter egg icon 🙂
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### Author:  [@JJHaggar](https://community.aseprite.org/u/JJHaggar)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2019, 2:39am UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/meaning-of-the-name-aseprite/2183/6 "2019-07-13T02:39:50Z")
If somebody is still wondering how you should pronounce **Aseprite** , you can have a look here 😉
> **[Aseprite](https://www.aseprite.org/pronunciation/)**
>
> Animated sprite editor & pixel art tool