Culture: Modern readers use names only as labels; but in the ancient world, a name was frequently a definition. Names were who a person was. Many societies give one name to children; but they take on a new name at puberty or as an adult, indicating their true identity. In the Book of Mormon, Benjamin urged his people to assume a new name that would solidify their new, covenant identity (Mosiah 5:7). The renaming of these Lamanite believers separated them from their past culture and, apparently, also their past political affiliations. It united them even more tightly in the gospel bond, emphasizing that their new similarity as believers was stronger than the differences represented by the cities from which they had come.
Vocabulary: We understand “anti-” as a prefix meaning “against,” but the term has this meaning in English from its absorption of the Greek word, which would not have affected the plate text of the Book of Mormon. In the Book of Mormon, “anti” would not have been Greek and would therefore have a different meaning. Hugh Nibley suggested that “anti” is related to a Semitic and Indo-European root that connotes “facing” as one might face a mirror. Thus, it might mean that they “mirrored” the teachings of Nephi and Lehi. Anthropologist Gordon C. Thomasson similarly notes: “Given the fact that in the ancient Near East a word equivalent to the word anti could mean just what it means in English today, the name of the Lamanite crown prince, son of Lamoni’s father, [Lamoni’s brother who took the name Anti-Nephi-Lehi, Alma 24:5] Anti-Nephi-Lehi is a perfectly appropriate throne name for what the Lamanites had stood for, prior to their conversion.”
While interesting, these possible etymologies are not persuasive. In Thomasson’s suggestion, the Lamanites take this name after their conversion, making the declaration of a state contrary to the Nephites (“a perfectly appropriate throne name for what the Lamanites had stood for”) rather inappropriate. Alma 21:11 mentions a village named Ani-Anti. That construction is too dissimilar to Nibley’s suggestion to provide support for his interpretation.
The most likely etymology is suggested by Stephen D. Ricks, professor of ancient and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University: The name “Anti” of “Anti-Nephi-Lehi” may be a reflex of the Egyptian nty “he of, the one of.” Thus, rather than having the sense of “against,” it has the meaning “the one of Nephi and Lehi.” In other words, Anti-Nephi-Lehies would be the people of Nephi-Lehi. The city of Ani-Anti would be the people of Ani.