"It is now commonly accepted in academic publications that the term Ḥḳꜣ-Ḫꜣswt refers
only to the individual foreign rulers of the late Second Intermediate Period," especially of the Fifteenth Dynasty, rather than a people.
However, it was used as an ethnic term by Josephus.
Its use to refer to the population still persists in some academic papers.

In Ancient Egypt, the term "Hyksos " (ḥḳꜣ-ḫꜣswt) was also used to refer to various Nubian and especially Asiatic rulers both before and after the Fifteenth Dynasty.
It was used at least since the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt (c. 2345–2181 BC) to designate chieftains from the Syro-Palestine area.
One of its earliest recorded use is found c. 1900 BC in the tomb of Khnumhotep II of the Twelfth Dynasty to label a Bedouin or Canaanite ruler named "Abisha the Hyksos"
(using the standard 𓋾𓈎𓈉, ḥḳꜣ-ḫꜣswt, "Heqa-kasut" for "Hyksos").

Based on the use of the name in a Hyksos inscription of Sakir-Har from Avaris, the name was used by the Hyksos as a title for themselves.
However, Kim Ryholt, argues that "Hyksos" was not an official title of the rulers of the Fifteenth Dynasty, and is never encountered together with royal titulary, only appearing as the title in the case of Sakir-Har.
According to Ryholt, "Hyksos" was rather a generic term which is encountered separately from royal titulary, and in regnal lists after the end of the Fifteenth Dynasty itself.
However, Vera Müller writes: "Considering that S-k-r-h-r is also mentioned with three names of the traditional Egyptian titulary (Horus name, Golden Falcon name and Two Ladies name) on the same monument, this argument is somehow strange."
Danielle Candelora and Manfred Bietak also argues that the Hyksos used the title officially.
All other texts in the Ancient Egyptian language do not call the Hyksos by this name, instead referring to them as Asiatics (ꜥꜣmw), with the possible exception of the Turin King List in a hypothetical reconstruction from a fragment.
The title is not attested for the Hyksos king Apepi, possibly indicating an "increased adoption of Egyptian decorum".

Scarabs also attest the use of this title for pharaohs usually assigned to the Fourteenth or Sixteenth Dynasty of Egypt, who are sometimes called "'lesser' Hyksos."
The Theban Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt is also given the title in some versions of Manetho, a fact which Bietak attributes to textual corruption.
In the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt and during the Ptolemaic Period, the term Hyksos was adopted as a personal title and epithet by a number of pharaohs or high Egyptian officials, including the Theban official Mentuemhat, Philip III of Macedon, and Ptolemy XIII.
It was also used on the tomb of Egyptian grand priest Petosiris at Tuna el-Gebel in 300 BC to designate the Persian ruler Artaxerxes III, although it is unknown if he adopted this title for himself.
"It is now commonly accepted in academic publications that the term Ḥḳꜣ-Ḫꜣswt refers
only to the individual foreign rulers of the late Second Intermediate Period," especially of the Fifteenth Dynasty, rather than a people. However, it was used as an ethnic term by Josephus. Its use to refer to the population still persists in some academic papers.
In Ancient Egypt, the term "Hyksos " (ḥḳꜣ-ḫꜣswt) was also used to refer to various Nubian and especially Asiatic rulers both before and after the Fifteenth Dynasty. It was used at least since the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt (c. 2345–2181 BC) to designate chieftains from the Syro-Palestine area. One of its earliest recorded use is found c. 1900 BC in the tomb of Khnumhotep II of the Twelfth Dynasty to label a Bedouin or Canaanite ruler named "Abisha the Hyksos"
(using the standard 𓋾𓈎𓈉, ḥḳꜣ-ḫꜣswt, "Heqa-kasut" for "Hyksos").
Based on the use of the name in a Hyksos inscription of Sakir-Har from Avaris, the name was used by the Hyksos as a title for themselves. However, Kim Ryholt, argues that "Hyksos" was not an official title of the rulers of the Fifteenth Dynasty, and is never encountered together with royal titulary, only appearing as the title in the case of Sakir-Har. According to Ryholt, "Hyksos" was rather a generic term which is encountered separately from royal titulary, and in regnal lists after the end of the Fifteenth Dynasty itself. However, Vera Müller writes: "Considering that S-k-r-h-r is also mentioned with three names of the traditional Egyptian titulary (Horus name, Golden Falcon name and Two Ladies name) on the same monument, this argument is somehow strange." Danielle Candelora and Manfred Bietak also argues that the Hyksos used the title officially. All other texts in the Ancient Egyptian language do not call the Hyksos by this name, instead referring to them as Asiatics (ꜥꜣmw), with the possible exception of the Turin King List in a hypothetical reconstruction from a fragment. The title is not attested for the Hyksos king Apepi, possibly indicating an "increased adoption of Egyptian decorum".
Scarabs also attest the use of this title for pharaohs usually assigned to the Fourteenth or Sixteenth Dynasty of Egypt, who are sometimes called "'lesser' Hyksos." The Theban Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt is also given the title in some versions of Manetho, a fact which Bietak attributes to textual corruption. In the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt and during the Ptolemaic Period, the term Hyksos was adopted as a personal title and epithet by a number of pharaohs or high Egyptian officials, including the Theban official Mentuemhat, Philip III of Macedon, and Ptolemy XIII. It was also used on the tomb of Egyptian grand priest Petosiris at Tuna el-Gebel in 300 BC to designate the Persian ruler Artaxerxes III, although it is unknown if he adopted this title for himself.
Hyksos