Along with at least 40 million other fans, I've become a Civilization player. For those who don't know, this game allows you to create your own country and expand throughout the globe - power IS intoxicating. With dozens of world leaders to choose from - Queen Victoria, Gandhi, Gilgamesh - I recently picked Cyrus and was thrust into Ancient Persia.
Jean-Charles Nicaise Perrin, "Cyrus and Astyages," 18th century
One cool aspect of Civilization VI is the amount of named individuals with whom players can interact; as Cyrus, I have a number of spies, delegates, and allies reporting to me with names like Amytis, Drypetis, and Laleh. I'm taking this opportunity to research these awesome names and perhaps find something usable for today!
Male Names:
Ariomardus - A son of King Darius I and his wife Parmys
Arsames - "strength of a hero"
Arsites - "the best"
Bardiya - "highest"
Cambyses - The name of two kings of Persia
Gaumata - A usurper to the crown who may or may not have existed
Hydarnes - Form of the name Vidarna
Otanes - "having good descendents"
Oxyathres - "of a good reign"
Sogdianus - A brief king of Persia who died by "suffocating in ash." Yikes.
Arash - An heroic archer
Dariush - "to possess goodness," a form of Darius
Firdaus - "paradise"
Jalal - "greatness"
Kianoush - "royal"
Rostam - Unclear etymology, but a possible route to the nickname Ross?
Saam - "dark," unrelated to Sam
Soheil - "level, even"
Vahid - "unique"
Zubin - "spear" - one of my favorites from the boys' list!
Female Names:
Artistun - "pillar of Arta," also spelled Artystone
Cassandane - Wife of Cyrus the Great
Drypetis - Daughter of Darius III and Stateira (below)
Parmida - Form of Parmys
Parysatis - Possibly related to "swallow (bird)"
Phaedymia - Daughter of Otanes
Roxana - "dawn," a lovely choice for a modern girl!
Sisygambis - Mother of Darius III
Stateira - Three major Stateiras rank in world history, but the etymology of the name is unclear.
Amytis - "having good thought"
Banu - "lady"
Darya - Form of Darius; another contender for today and a personal favorite.
Firuzeh - "turquoise"
Golnar - "pomegranate flower"
Laleh - "tulip." Just a mite too breathy, but very sweet.
Niusha - "good listener," also a contemporary Russian pop star
Roghayeh - Two possible meanings of "ascent" or "incantation"
Simin - "silvery," serene but a bit too close to Simon
Yasamin - "jasmine flower"
Zareen - "golden" - Oh my gosh, Simin and Zareen would make a great sibset!
Which is your favorite? What Persian names do you find particularly attractive? Tell me in the comments!
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