Persian name: Difference between revisions
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* [http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/ira.php Behind the Name: Iranian Names] |
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Revision as of 02:06, 10 December 2008
Prior to the reign of Reza Shah (r. 1925 - 1941), the people of Persia (Iran) did not use surnames. A person was often distinguished from others by a combination of prefixes and suffixes attached to his name which, if omitted, might cause him to be taken for someone else.[1]
In many cases an individual was known by the name of the district, city, town, or even the village from which they came by using the locality's name as a suffix, for example: Nuri, Khorasani, Mazandarani, Tehrani, Esfahani, and Shirazi.
Structure of Persian name
Because of Islamic conquest of Iran, names of Persians are derived from Arabic, but most of the people use names in their own language. For the Persian Christians, they have Arabic names indistinguishable to their Muslim neighbors but not exactly Muslim names like Muhammad. They use Arabic derivations of Christian names (e.g. saints' names), and names of Greek, Assyrian, or especially Armenian origin, the latter is correct as most Christian Iranians are Armenian Iranians. They also use Persian translations of Christian names, since most Christian names are Indo-European words, like Persian.
Honorifics, Prefixes & Suffixes
- Aqa آقا - Sir, mister. General term of respect.
- Ayatollahآيتال - high ranking title given to Usuli Twelver Shī‘ah clerics.
- Darvish درويش - A Sufi mystic or a spiritual Guru (Dervish).
- Haji حاجى - As a prefix, one who had made the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.
- Jenaab - As a prefix, excellency.
- Karbala'i كربلايى - As a prefix, one who has made the pilgrimage to Karbala. As a suffix, one from Karbala.
- Khan خان - As a suffix, served at one time as a title for an honored person.
- Mashhadi مشهدى - As a prefix, one who has made the pilgrimage to Mashad. As a suffix, one from Mashad. Often shortened to مش (Mash).
- Mir میر - As a prefix generally indicates seyed descent.
- Mirza ميرزا - Shortened version of "Amir Zade." As a prefix, a general term of respect which usually indicates that the one designated is literate. As a suffix, it indicates a man of royal descent.
- Mullah ملا - A Muslim cleric.
- Ostad استاد - A master craftsman, lecturer or a person who is the master of a profession.
Final days
Among many other secularization and modernization reforms, surnames were required by Reza Shah, following similar contemporary patterns in Turkey under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and later in Egypt under Gamal Abdel Nasser.[2]
Persian Names and Their Biblical Equivalent
For the Muslim names of most Persians and the exclusively Christian Arabic names of Persians, see also Arabic name.
| Persian name | English name |
|---|---|
| Ardeshir | Artaxerxes |
| Dariush | Darius |
| Eskandar | Alexander |
| Kurosh | Cyrus |
| Qaisar | Caesar |
| Setareh | Esther |
Other Names
| Persian name | English name |
|---|---|
| Roshanak | Roxana, Roxanne |
See also
References
- ^ Salmani, Ustad Muhammad-`Aliy-i, the Barber (1982). My Memories of Bahá'u'lláh. Los Angeles, USA: Kalimát Press. pp. p. 123. ISBN 0-933770-21-9.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Tehranian, Majid (August 1–5, 2000). "Disenchanted Worlds: Seculartization and Democratization in the Middle East". Paper for Presentation at the World Congress of International Political Science Association. Retrieved 2006-09-28.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)