Hotepsekhemwy is known from lists made at the time of Ramesses II. The name "Bedjau" is found on the Abydos king list, "Bedjatau" from Giza, "Netjer-Bau" from the Sakkara king list and the name "Bau-hetepju" is on the Turin King List. A similar name, "Bedjatau", is on a short king list found on a writing board from the mastaba tomb G1001 of the high official Mesdjeru. "Bedjatau" means "the foundryman". This is thought to be a misreading of the name "Hotepsekhemwy". The hieroglyphic signs used to write "Hotep" are very similar to the signs of a pottery kiln and a chick in hieratic writings. The signs of two "Sekhem"sceptres were misread as a leg and a drill. This kind of misreading may have happened in the case of King Khasekhemwy, where the two sceptres in the Horus name were misread as two leg-symbols or two drill-signs. The Abydos king list copies this Old Kingdom name form of “Bedjatau”. The names "Netjerbau" and "Bau-hetepju" are problematic, since Egyptologists can't find any name source from Hotepsekhemwy's time that could have been used to form them.