The name of the town most likely comes from an Arabic name "Rašīd" (meaning "guide") and was transcribed and corrupted in numerous ways – the name "Rexi" was used by the Crusaders in Middle Ages and "Rosetta" or "Rosette" ("little rose" in Italian and French respectively) was used by the French at the time of Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in Egypt. The latter lent its name to the Rosetta Stone (), which was found by French soldiers at the nearby Fort Julien in 1799.