Anti-Nephi-Lehies: What's in the Name?

In Alma 23 the newly converted Lamanites decided that they needed a new name.  We read that “the king consulted with Aaron and many of their priests, concerning the name that they should take upon them, that they might be distinguished.  And it came to pass that they called their names Anti-Nephi-Lehies; and they were called by this name and were no more called Lamanites” (Alma 23:16-17).  I’ve always struggled a bit to understand this name and what the word “Anti” really means. 

In our normal usage of the word we would think the name means that they are against the Nephites—clearly that’s not the case.  One explanation is given as follows: “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 ‘against,’ it has the meaning ‘the one of Nephi and Lehi’” (Stephen D. Ricks, “Anti-Nephi-Lehi,” in Dennis L. Largey, ed., Book of Mormon Reference Companion [2003], 67).  So this would assume, I think, that “Anti” here is a transliteration of the Egyptian word instead of a translation.  This would be similar to other transliterated words in the Book of Mormon including Irreantum or Rabbanah.  But with those Egyptian words that are handed over directly, we get the definition along with the word; for example, we are told that Irreantum means “many waters” (1 Nephi 17:5).  We don’t get that kind of explanation in the text with “Anti”.  The other challenge with assuming the Egyptian meaning to Anti is that we have another usage of the word in the Book of Mormon which clearly doesn’t fit: “And this is Anti-Christ, whose name was Korihor” (Alma 30:12).  The sense there seems to very much be that Korihor was against Christ and not “the one of” Christ.  I think there is another possible explanation for this word Anti-Nephi-Lehies.  Instead of thinking that the combination of words means Anti-Nephi and Anti-Lehi, it may be that the Anti prefix only goes with the word Nephi.  In other words, they are Lehies who are Anti-Nephi.  Or, put a different way, they are Lehites who are not of Nephi.  In current day English the prefix anti can have the sense of “opposite” in addition to the more common usage of “opposed”, and to me this phrase makes sense with this meaning.  If their name was meant just to specify who they were, then this is perfectly descriptive: they were Lehites (or “Lehies”) who did not descend from Nephi.  This name allows them to distinguish themselves from the Lamanites, which they were trying to do, but it also gives an honest description of who they were.  It also allows them to rightfully connect themselves with Lehi whom they were descendants of but whom they had rejected in their cultural history for centuries.  At any rate, I guess there’s no way to know for sure exactly what the name meant, and ultimately for us it’s not really important.  What’s perhaps truly instructive for us is that they wanted a new name when they changed their hearts, and in the end the name they really took upon themselves was that of Christ.