Ta'abatta Sharran is a laqab, or nickname, which means "he who has put evil in his armpit." تأبّط means "he carried under his arm," and شرا is the nominative form of "evil." There are a number of traditional accounts of how he acquired the name, all of dubious factual basis. One involves him carrying a ram under his arm, which urinated on him; in another, he carries a bag of snakes under his arm as a gift for his mother; and in another, he habitually carries his sword under his arm when travelling with a raiding party.