“Fill in name here” – The placeholder for individual names in the Greek magical papyri

In the Greek and Egyptian ritual manuals it was common practice to use a placeholder for the individual names of the target and the beneficiary in a ritual instruction to mark the spot where they need to be filled in, e.g. in an invocation or an inscription.
The symbol which is used as a placeholder is encircled in red in the graphic. It is an abbreviation of the Greek word δεινα, translated “so-and-so”.  In modern translations this symbol is transcribed as “NN”.

PGM IV - Bibliothèque Nationale de France, P.suppl.grec. 574
PGM IV – Bibliothèque Nationale de France, P.suppl.grec. 574. Image source: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF

Link to the papyrus on the website of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France:
https://gallica.bnf.f/ark:/12148/btv1b525030475