 The Russian Orientalist N. S. Lykoshin suggested that Sayram's correct name was "Sar-i ayyām", or 'Ancient of Days'.His editor held, however, that instead of "ayyām", it was instead the Arabic "yamm", 'sea, river' and referred to the source of a stream.If the name Sayrām is actually Turkic, it probably refers to 'a place of shallow water.'