Persian Baby Names: 75+ Girl and Boy Names with Meanings and Persian Script

Popular Persian baby names include Shirin شیرین (“sweet”), Laleh لاله (“tulip”), Setareh ستاره (“star”) and Parisa پریسا (“fairy-like”) for girls, and Dariush داریوش (Darius), Kourosh کوروش (Cyrus), Kaveh کاوه, Arash آرش and Omid امید (“hope”) for boys. Many come from nature, ancient kings, or the heroes of the Shahnameh.

Every name below is given in Persian script, with its pronunciation, the usual English spelling and a meaning only where the meaning is clear. For several famous old names the true meaning is debated, and this page says so instead of inventing one.

Where Persian names come from

Names used in Iran today come from a few main sources:

• Everyday Persian words. Flowers, stars, seasons and good qualities: لاله (tulip), بهار (spring), امید (hope). Their meanings are as clear to Iranians as “Rose” or “Hope” are in English.
• Ancient Iranian history. Kings and queens of the Achaemenid and Sasanian empires: Kourosh (Cyrus), Dariush (Darius), Khashayar (Xerxes), Ardeshir, Atusa.
• The Shahnameh. Ferdowsi’s epic of Iran’s legendary kings and heroes, completed around the year 1010, gave Iran Rostam, Sohrab, Siavash, Tahmineh, Manizheh and many more. Read more in our post on the Shahnameh.
• Persian love stories and poetry. Shirin and Farhad, Vis and Ramin, Leyli and Majnun.
• Arabic and Islamic names. Many of the most common names in Iran, such as Mohammad, Ali, Hossein, Reza, Fatemeh and Zahra, are Arabic in origin. They are fully Iranian names in daily life, but they are not “Persian” in the language sense, so this list focuses on names of Persian origin.

Persian girl names with meanings

Listen: Listen Shirin, Listen Setareh, Listen Parisa, Listen Niloufar. Many of these are flower names; you can learn more in our list of flower names in Persian.

Girl names from ancient Iran

• روشنک (Roshanak): the Persian form of Roxana, the wife of Alexander the Great. The name is linked to an old Iranian word for “bright, shining.”
• آتوسا (Âtusâ, Atusa): Atossa, daughter of Cyrus the Great and wife of Darius I.
• آناهیتا (Ânâhitâ, Anahita): the ancient Iranian goddess of the waters. Her name is usually explained as “pure, immaculate.”
• پانته‌آ (Pânte’â, Pantea): from Panthea, a noblewoman in the Greek writer Xenophon’s story of Cyrus.
• پوران‌دخت (Purândokht) and آذرمیدخت (Âzarmidokht): two Sasanian queens who ruled in the 7th century. Dokht means “daughter.”

Persian boy names with meanings

Listen: Listen Omid, Listen Arman, Listen Behrouz, Listen Mehrdad.

Boy names from ancient kings

Listen Listen If you want the history behind the most famous of these names, read our article on Cyrus the Great.

Names from the Shahnameh

The Shahnameh, the “Book of Kings,” is the richest single source of Iranian names. Parents who choose one of these names are usually choosing a story, not just a sound. You can read about the epic in simple Persian in our reading lesson on Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh.

Listen Listen Listen Listen One more name with a famous legend: آرش (Ârash), the archer who, in Iranian legend, shot an arrow to fix the border between Iran and Turan. The Shahnameh mentions him only in passing; his story is known mainly from other sources.

How Persian names are built

A few building blocks appear again and again. Once you know them, you can understand many names you have never seen:

Spelling Persian names in English

There is no single official way to write Persian names in English letters, which is why one name can appear three ways. The most common patterns:

• Long u: written ou or oo: Kourosh, Behrouz, Parastoo. Simple u (Kurosh) is also used.
• Final -e: often written -eh: Laleh, Setareh, Tahmineh. Without the h, English speakers tend to say the name wrong.
• Long â: just a in English spellings: Darya, Bahar. The vowel is the “a” of “father.”
• kh and gh: kept as two letters: Khosrow, Khashayar. The sound is like the “ch” in Scottish “loch.”
• Stress: Persian names are usually stressed on the last syllable: shi-RIN, se-tâ-REH, ka-VEH, ro-STAM.

To see how any name, including your own, is written in Persian script, try our write your name in Persian tool, and if the letters are new to you, start with the Persian alphabet guide.

Using names in Persian: jân and esm

To ask someone’s name, say اسمت چیه؟ (esmet chiye?), spoken and informal, or اسم شما چیست؟ (esm-e shomâ chist?), formal. The word for name is اسم (esm) Listen; see our page on esm, the Persian word for name. Iranians add جان (jân, “dear,” literally “soul”) after a name to show affection: Shirin jân, Omid jân. It is warm but not romantic, and you will hear it among family, friends and even colleagues. For more words of affection, see how to say I love you in Persian.

Common questions

What is the most popular Persian girl name?

Popularity changes every year and official rankings are not easy to find in English. Names of Persian origin that are widely used include Shirin, Setareh, Parisa, Mahsa, Niloufar, Yasaman and Bahar; Fatemeh, Zahra and Maryam, of Arabic or Biblical-Quranic origin, are also very common in Iran.

What is a strong Persian boy name?

Names of heroes and kings are the classic choice: Rostam, the great hero of the Shahnameh; Kourosh (Cyrus); Dariush (Darius); Kaveh, the blacksmith who rose against a tyrant; and Arash, the legendary archer.

What Persian names mean “light”?

Roshanak (Roxana) is linked to “bright, shining,” and the everyday word for light, نور (nur), is itself used as a name, though it is Arabic in origin. Sepideh, “dawn,” and Mahtab, “moonlight,” are related ideas.

Are Persian names and Iranian names the same?

Mostly. “Persian name” usually means a name of Persian language origin, while “Iranian name” includes everything used in Iran, including many Arabic, Turkish and Kurdish names.

How do you write a Persian name in English?

By sound. Common patterns are ou or oo for the long u (Kourosh), -eh for a final e (Laleh), and kh for the throaty sound (Khosrow). Families often keep the spelling that appears in their passports.

Which Persian names come from the Shahnameh?

Rostam, Sohrab, Tahmineh, Rudabeh, Zal, Siavash, Farangis, Bijan, Manizheh, Gordafarid, Esfandiar, Kaveh, Fereydoun, Iraj, Jamshid and Manouchehr are among the best known.

Related guides: Iranian last names and their meanings

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