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APersianorIranian name consists of a given name, sometimes more than one, and a surname.
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Since the Islamic conquest of Persia, many names in Iran have been derived from Arabic. Persian Christians had Arabic names indistinguishable from their Muslim neighbors but not exactly Muslim names like Muhammad. They can also use Arabic derivations of Christian names (e.g. saints' names), or Greek, Assyrian, or especially Armenian names. The latter is no surprise because most Christian Iranians are Armenian Iranians.
Many Persian names come from the great Persian literature book, Shahnameh (The Epic of Kings). This great book was composed in the 10th century by Ferdowsi and is considered by many the masterpiece of the Persian literature and is treasured by all Iranians. Approximately 10%-15% of all Persian names are from Shahnameh. A few examples are as follows; Abtin, Ardeshir, Armeen, Arzhang, Babak (Papak), Bijan, Bizhan, Bozorgmehr, Darab, Dariush (Darius), Esfandiar, Esfandyar, Faramarz, Farhad, Fariborz, Farshid and Farzad.
Prior to 1919, the people of Persia (Iran) did not use surnames. An act of Vosough od-Dowleh government in 1919 introduced the use of surnames,[1] and the practice expanded during the reign of Reza Shah (r. 1925–1941). Prior to that, a person was often distinguished from others by a combination of prefixes and suffixes attached to his name which, if omitted, might cause that person to be taken for someone else.[2]
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, Kordestani, Tehrani, Esfahani, and Shirazi.
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.[3]
A selection of the most common male given names found in Iran, are as follows:
A selection of the most common female given names found in Iran, are as follows:
A selection of surnames found in Iran, are as follows:
