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Persian names draw on one of the oldest poetic traditions in the world, and it shows — plenty of these names started out as everyday words for flowers, light, or stars before anyone used them as a name. That means many of them carry real meaning behind the sound, not just a pretty ring. Below you’ll find more than 175 to look through, leaning rare and lyrical rather than trendy.
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Popularity below is calculated from Social Security Administration data through 2024, the most recent year on record.
Here’s what’s in store –
Names From the Shahnameh and Classical Persian Epics
Names From Persian Poetry — Hafez, Rumi, Saadi, Khayyam
Zoroastrian and Ancient Iranian Names
Nature-Inspired Persian Names — Light, Earth, Water
Modern Iranian Names — Tehran in the 2000s
Royal and Aristocratic Names — Queens, Princesses, Pahlavi Era
Sufi and Spiritually-Inflected Names
Sound-Forward Persian Names — Short, Punchy, Travel-Friendly
Most of these names are still rare in English-speaking countries, which is part of the appeal. Your daughter won’t share hers with three other girls in her kindergarten class. But because Persian phonetics map cleanly onto English mouths (no tricky consonant clusters, no tonal pitfalls), people will say it correctly the first time. That’s an unusual combination — distinctive and easy.
I’ve organized this list by where the names come from rather than alphabetically, because the source matters. A name pulled from the Shahnameh has a different texture than one rooted in Zoroastrian fire-worship, which has a different texture than a modern Tehran nickname. You’ll feel the difference as you read.
A note on spelling: Persian is written in a modified Arabic script, so Romanizations vary. Sahar and Sehar, Yasamin and Yasmin — these are the same name, just transliterated differently. I’ve used the most common English spellings throughout.
Names From the Shahnameh and Classical Persian Epics
Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh (Book of Kings) was completed around 1010 CE and is the longest epic poem ever written by a single author. The women in it — queens, warriors, sorceresses, devoted daughters — gave Iran some of its most enduring names.
- Origin: Persian (Old Persian, via Greek Rhōxanē)
- Pronunciation: rahk-SAN-ah · rɑːkˈsænə
- Meaning: bright, radiant
- Popularity: #2,091 and rising (#2,173 → #2,091, 2024)
The name of Alexander the Great’s Bactrian wife, *Roshanak* in the original; sun-kissed and storied.
- Origin: Persian (from Arabic)
- Pronunciation: soh-RY-ah · soʊˈraɪə
- Meaning: the Pleiades star cluster; also glossed as ‘brilliant gem’
- Popularity: #913 and rising (#1,150 → #913, 2024)
Wife of the last Shah of Iran; soft and celestial.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Brave, valorous
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The princess who fell in love with the hero Rostam in a single night; carries quiet strength.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Daughter of the moon
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A Turanian princess who defied her father for love; romantic and a little defiant.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: River-blossom, child of the river
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Rostam’s mother; let her hair down a tower like a Persian Rapunzel.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Created heroically
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Shahnameh’s great female warrior who duelled the prince of Turan; fierce, underused.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Of glorious presence
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Daughter of the Turanian king Afrasiab; lyrical and grand.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Lucky, fortunate
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The complicated queen of the Kayanian dynasty; vintage and dramatic.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Royal, queenly
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Mother of the hero Esfandiar; regal without being ornate.
- Origin: Persian
- Pronunciation: hoh-MAH · hoʊˈmɑː
- Meaning: A mythical phoenix-like bird
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Huma bird grants kingship to whoever its shadow touches; auspicious.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Lady, noble woman
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A title and a name; warm and slightly formal.
- Origin: Persian
- Pronunciation: shee-REEN · ʃiːˈriːn
- Meaning: sweet
- Popularity: #8,854 and rising (#10,198 → #8,854, 2024)
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Beautiful
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Heroine of the 11th-century romance *Vis and Ramin*; rare even in Iran.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Free, noble
- Popularity: #15,520 as of 2023 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The harpist in the legend of Bahram Gur; melodic.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: fairy, angel
- Popularity: #6,835 and rising (#9,451 → #6,835, 2024)
The original word behind English “peri”; tiny and luminous.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Greatest, supreme; or moon-like
- Popularity: #13,432 and falling (#13,428 → #13,432, 2024)
A 20th-century literary favorite.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Like a fairy
- Popularity: #5,096 and rising (#6,339 → #5,096, 2024)
A diminutive of Pari that feels playful and modern.
- Origin: Old Persian/Zoroastrian
- Pronunciation: ah-nah-HEE-tah · ˌɑːnɑːˈhiːtɑː
- Meaning: goddess of the waters, also linked to fertility, healing, and wisdom
- Popularity: #7,973 and falling (#7,264 → #7,973, 2024)
The ancient water goddess; predates Islam by centuries.
- Origin: Old Persian
- Meaning: Well-formed
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Daughter of Cyrus the Great, wife of Darius; the queen behind the Persian empire.
- Origin: Greek-Persian
- Meaning: Gift of Artemis
- Popularity: #11,179 and falling (#5,772 → #11,179, 2024)
The naval commander who fought for Xerxes at Salamis; ancient and ferocious.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Mother of Fereydun in the Shahnameh
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Hid her son to save him from the tyrant Zahhak; protective and brave.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Daughter of India
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Rudabeh’s mother; diplomatic and shrewd in the epic.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: City-born, of noble lineage
- Popularity: #17,487 as of 2001 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The storyteller of *One Thousand and One Nights*; the original woman who saved her life with words.
- Origin: Persian (legendary Shahnameh hero name, cognate with the Parthian royal name Gotarzes)
- Meaning: A noble Pahlavan family name
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Uncommon as a girl’s name but used; feels heroic.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Daughter of the sun, daughter of kindness
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Old-fashioned in the best way.
Names From Persian Poetry — Hafez, Rumi, Saadi, Khayyam
The classical poets reached for natural imagery constantly — gardens, wine, nightingales, moonlight — and many of those images became names. These tend to feel especially lyrical when said aloud.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: violet (the flower)
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A staple in Hafez’s verses; humble and sweet.
- Origin: Hebrew (ultimately from Egyptian)
- Meaning: lily flower, via a Hebrew name traced back to an Egyptian word for lotus
- Popularity: #1,136 and falling (#1,104 → #1,136, 2024)
The original Susan is Persian, not biblical; predates the English version by millennia.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Jasmine
- Popularity: #15,007 as of 2020 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Beloved in Persian gardens and ghazals; soft and recognizable.
- Origin: Persian
- Pronunciation: nahs-REEN · nɑːsˈriːn
- Meaning: wild rose
- Popularity: #13,056 as of 2023 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The flower that climbs old Tehran walls; gentle.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Narcissus, daffodil
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A classical symbol for the beloved’s eyes in Sufi poetry.
- Origin: Persian
- Pronunciation: lah-LEH · lɑːˈlɛ
- Meaning: tulip
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Iranian national flower; bright and short.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Tender flower, delicate as a blossom
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Slightly old-fashioned, very feminine.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Pomegranate flower
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Carries the red-orange color of pomegranate blooms; vivid.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Little flower
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A diminutive that works as a full name.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Rose-cheeked
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A poetic compliment turned into a name.
- Origin: Persian
- Pronunciation: MAH-sah · ˈmɑːsɑː
- Meaning: resembling the moon
- Popularity: #3,466 and rising (#4,159 → #3,466, 2024)
One of the most popular contemporary names in Iran.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: moonlight
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Pure visual poetry; works in any culture.
- Origin: Persian
- Pronunciation: SHAHB-nahm · ˈʃɑːbnɑːm
- Meaning: dew (literally ‘night-moisture’)
- Popularity: #13,250 as of 2023 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The little drops on morning grass; delicate.
- Origin: Persian
- Pronunciation: seh-tah-REH · sɛtɑːˈrɛ
- Meaning: star
- Popularity: #13,204 and falling (#10,189 → #13,204, 2024)
Beloved across the Iranian diaspora; warm and direct.
- Origin: Arabic/Persian
- Pronunciation: sah-HAR · sɑːˈhɑːr
- Meaning: dawn, daybreak
- Popularity: #3,363 and rising (#3,463 → #3,363, 2024)
The hour just before sunrise when Sufis pray.
- Origin: Persian
- Pronunciation: seh-pee-DEH · sɛpiːˈdɛ
- Meaning: dawn, daybreak
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: sky, heavens, the celestial sphere
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Used for both genders; vast.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Beloved, sweetheart
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The painted image of the beloved in poetry; intimate.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Water lily, lotus
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Floats above the murky pond; symbolic.
- Origin: Arabic/Persian (form of Mary/Miriam)
- Pronunciation: MAR-yum · ˈmɑːrjəm
- Meaning: Tuberose; also Mary
- Popularity: #390 and rising (#415 → #390, 2024)
The Persian flower meaning gives it new life.
- Origin: two unrelated origins: Tupi (Brazilian indigenous) and Arabic
- Pronunciation: YAR-ah · ˈjɑːrə
- Meaning: In Tupi, ‘lady of the water’ — a water-spirit figure in Brazilian folklore.
- Popularity: #578 and rising (#613 → #578, 2024)
Short and tough.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Gemstone, jewel
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The centerpiece of a ring; precious.
- Origin: Persian/Arabic
- Meaning: coral
- Popularity: #10,754 and falling (#9,382 → #10,754, 2024)
The red coral of the Persian Gulf; rare in English.
- Origin: multiple (Sanskrit, Persian, or Germanic short form)
- Pronunciation: MEE-nah · ˈmiːnə
- Meaning: varies by origin: ‘fish’ (Sanskrit/Hindi मीना), ‘blue enamel/glass’ or a flower name (Persian مینا), or a short form of Wilhelmina (‘resolute protector’, Germanic)
- Popularity: #608 and falling (#586 → #608, 2024)
Compact and pretty.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Venus, the planet
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The morning star; also the Persian name for Anahita.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Butterfly
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
In Sufi poetry, the moth that flies into the flame of the beloved.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Earring, pendant
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Decorative and uncommon.
- Origin: Persian
- Pronunciation: ROH-yah · ˈroʊjə
- Meaning: dream, vision
- Popularity: #2,808 and falling (#2,458 → #2,808, 2024)
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Wish, longing
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Means the wish itself, not the fulfillment.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Pride of the moon, beloved as the moon
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Has a swing to it.
Zoroastrian and Ancient Iranian Names
Before Islam reached Iran in the 7th century, Zoroastrianism was the state religion for over a thousand years. These names — many drawn from the Avesta — carry the oldest layer of Persian identity.
The goddess of water, fertility, and wisdom; her name appears in inscriptions from 400 BCE.
- Origin: Avestan/Old Iranian
- Meaning: contract, covenant (personified as a divine guarantor of oaths)
- Popularity: #8,246 and falling (#7,524 → #8,246, 2024)
Used for girls in modern Iran; ancient and luminous.
- Origin: Avestan (Old Persian)
- Pronunciation: AH-shah · ˈɑːʃə
- Meaning: truth, order, righteousness — the central Zoroastrian concept
- Popularity: #1,196 and rising (#1,338 → #1,196, 2024)
The central Zoroastrian virtue; one syllable, huge weight.
- Origin: Avestan
- Meaning: Religion, inner self, the soul that meets you after death
- Popularity: #13,818 and falling (#9,761 → #13,818, 2024)
Philosophical and rare.
- Origin: Avestan
- Meaning: holy, bounteous/beneficent
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The “good spirit” of Zoroastrian theology.
- Origin: Avestan
- Meaning: Devotion, holy thought
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
One of the Amesha Spenta divine beings; serene.
- Origin: Avestan
- Meaning: Wife of Zoroaster
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A founding figure; tiny syllabic shape.
- Origin: Avestan
- Meaning: Most wise, most thoughtful
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Zoroaster’s youngest daughter; a mouthful but stunning.
- Origin: Arabic
- Pronunciation: FAIR-ah · ˈfɛrə
- Meaning: joy; happiness
- Popularity: #1,363 and falling (#1,310 → #1,363, 2024)
Empress Farah Pahlavi made it iconic.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: sun; love, affection
- Popularity: #6,818 and rising (#6,830 → #6,818, 2024)
One of the most beloved root-words in Iranian naming.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Sweet sun, melody of love
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The kind of name people remember.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Inspiring love, sun-stirring
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Vintage Tehran of the 1940s.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Sun
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Direct and warm.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Of the festival of Tir, water-celebration
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The midsummer Zoroastrian festival.
- Origin: Persian (from Syriac)
- Meaning: the longest night of the year, the winter solstice
- Popularity: #10,204 and falling (#8,454 → #10,204, 2024)
Celebrated with pomegranates and poetry; a beautiful birthday-name for December babies.
- Origin: Avestan
- Meaning: Holy devotion, Earth
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The fifth month in the Zoroastrian calendar.
- Origin: Avestan
- Meaning: Good, holy
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A name and a prefix; short and pure.
- Origin: Avestan-Sanskrit
- Meaning: Lord of light
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Reaches into the Indo-Iranian past.
- Origin: Old Persian
- Meaning: Well-formed
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Variant of Atusa.
- Origin: Avestan
- Meaning: Of right thinking
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Variant of Armaiti; philosophical.
- Origin: Avestan
- Meaning: The mighty river
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Avestan name of Anahita.
- Origin: Avestan
- Meaning: The moist, the strong
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Variant spelling, older.
- Origin: Avestan
- Meaning: Question, inquiry
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Rare and intellectual.
- Origin: Persian, from Avestan *vahishta*
- Meaning: Heaven, paradise
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The good place.
Nature-Inspired Persian Names — Light, Earth, Water
Iranians have always loved the natural world precisely — they have separate words for morning twilight, dew at dawn, moonlight on water. These names carry that precision.
- Origin: Persian/Avestan
- Meaning: associated with ‘waters’; also the eighth month of the Persian calendar
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Autumnal and elemental.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Fire
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Bold and elemental; less common for girls but used.
- Origin: Turkish
- Pronunciation: bah-RAHN · bɑːˈrɑːn
- Meaning: rain
- Popularity: #12,323 and rising (#13,697 → #12,323, 2024)
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Storm, rainfall
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Heavier sister to Baran.
- Origin: Persian (root of the Turkish word)
- Pronunciation: bah-HAHR · bɑːˈhɑːr
- Meaning: spring, springtime
- Popularity: #4,118 and rising (#5,778 → #4,118, 2024)
One of the most popular names in modern Iran.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Shining, radiant
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Has movement in it.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Glowing, luminous
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Same root as Tabaan, simpler spelling.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Light, luminous
- Popularity: #12,852 as of 2000 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The classical form of Roxana.
- Origin: disputed / multiple unrelated origins (see note)
- Meaning: Beautiful, elegant; also gazing
- Popularity: #3,729 and falling (#3,367 → #3,729, 2024)
Crossover with Arabic but distinctly Persian.
- Origin: Persian, from Arabic *dunya*
- Meaning: World
- Popularity: #11,328 and falling (#8,167 → #11,328, 2024)
Vast in meaning, gentle in sound.
- Pronunciation: DAR-yah · ˈdɑːrjə
- Meaning: Sea, ocean
- Popularity: #3,280 and rising (#3,603 → #3,280, 2024)
The same word as the river Daryā in Iranian geography.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Sea-like, of the sea
- Popularity: #4,723 and rising (#5,993 → #4,723, 2024)
Coastal and rare.
- Origin: Persian (from Avestan Sraoša)
- Meaning: hearkening, obedience (from a root meaning ‘to hear’)
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Unisex; spiritual.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Silvery, of silver
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The poet Simin Behbahani gave it gravitas.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Golden
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Sister to Simin; warmer.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Golden, gilded
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Soft variant.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Turquoise
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The blue-green stone mined in Neyshabur for 2,000 years.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Victorious
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Compact masculine-feeling name used for girls too.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Silvery moon
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Combines *Mah* and *sim*; recent invention but lovely.
- Origin: Persian/Arabic
- Meaning: Moonlight, light of the moon
- Popularity: #3,540 and falling (#3,121 → #3,540, 2024)
Crosses cultures easily.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Modern light
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Newer compound; gentle.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Pennyroyal mint
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The herb that grows wild near streams.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Idol, sweetheart
- Popularity: #17,181 as of 2023 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The beloved in classical poetry; warm.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Wine, the morning drink
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Poetic in a Hafezian way.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Bright, shining
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Modern revival of a Parthian-era name.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Face, countenance
- Popularity: #2,452 and rising (#3,169 → #2,452, 2024)
Used for both name and word.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Joyful, happy
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Optimistic.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Blossom, bud
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The flower before it opens; tender.
- Origin: Turkic-Persian
- Meaning: Falcon, hawk
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A favorite in northern Iran.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Clay, earth
- Popularity: #2,683 and falling (#1,960 → #2,683, 2024)
Coincides with the English Tina but means something specific.
Modern Iranian Names — Tehran in the 2000s
These are the names you’d find on a Tehran kindergarten roster today. Many were popularized after the 1979 revolution as parents reached for Persian (rather than Arabic) roots.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Of the water
- Popularity: #4,191 and falling (#3,708 → #4,191, 2024)
Modern revival, climbing in popularity.
- Origin: Italian (popularized by Verdi’s 1871 opera Aida)
- Meaning: Reward, gift; visitor
- Popularity: #1,242 and falling (#1,232 → #1,242, 2024)
Modern Tehran favorite.
- Origin: Persian-Turkish
- Meaning: Like the moon
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Used widely in northwest Iran.
- Origin: Persian, from Arabic
- Meaning: Future, the gift of what’s to come
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Confident and forward-looking.
- Origin: Persian, from Arabic
- Meaning: Honey
- Popularity: #5,157 and rising (#9,050 → #5,157, 2024)
Sweet without being saccharine.
- Origin: disputed (Hebrew, Irish, or Germanic)
- Pronunciation: AY-vah · ˈeɪvə
- Meaning: most often treated as a variant of Eva/Hebrew Chava, meaning ‘life’; alternatively explained as an anglicized form of Irish Aoife or from an obscure Germanic root
- Popularity: #9 and falling (#8 → #9, 2024)
That’s a folk association not supported by any source — Ava’s true origin is disputed, and it’s most often treated as a variant of Eva, meaning ‘life.’
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Thyme, the wild herb
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Smells like a Persian hillside.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Ornament, adornment
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Short and crisp.
- Origin: Persian
- Pronunciation: BEE-tah · ˈbiːtɑː
- Meaning: unique, matchless, one of a kind
- Popularity: #16,138 as of 2003 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Modern, two syllables, easy.
- Origin: Italian
- Meaning: lady
- Popularity: #1,941 and rising (#1,986 → #1,941, 2024)
Coincides with the Italian, distinct etymology.
- Origin: Persian, from Arabic
- Meaning: Goddess
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Romantic and a little grand.
- Origin: Persian-Turkish
- Meaning: Tenderness of the people
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Common in Azerbaijani Iran.
- Origin: Greek (modern coinage, apparently from Helios)
- Meaning: Sun
- Popularity: #6,461 and rising (#10,614 → #6,461, 2024)
Modern coinage but feels ancient.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Existence, being
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Philosophical and short.
- Origin: Persian (ultimately Ancient Greek, via Arabic al-kimiya)
- Pronunciation: kee-MEE-ah · kiːˈmiːə
- Meaning: alchemy / elixir of life (modern sense: chemistry)
- Popularity: #6,504 and rising (#7,464 → #6,504, 2024)
- Origin: Arabic, Sanskrit
- Pronunciation: LY-lah · ˈlaɪlə
- Meaning: night (Arabic, via Layla) or play/charm (Sanskrit līlā), depending on origin
- Popularity: #207 and rising (#213 → #207, 2024)
Variant of Leila.
- Origin: Arabic
- Pronunciation: LAY-lah · ˈleɪlə
- Meaning: night
- Popularity: #268 and falling (#240 → #268, 2024)
The most universal Persian name in the West.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Like a beautiful young woman
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Modern and lyrical.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: A Persian musical scale
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
For music-loving parents.
- Origin: Persian, from Arabic
- Meaning: Queen
- Popularity: #12,970 and rising (#13,003 → #12,970, 2024)
Common in Tehran since the 90s.
- Origin: Irish/Scottish Gaelic; also Arabic (as Muna)
- Pronunciation: MOH-nah · ˈmoʊnə
- Meaning: noble (Irish/Gaelic); or ‘wish/desire’ when used as a form of Arabic Muna
- Popularity: #2,224 and falling (#2,116 → #2,224, 2024)
Short and contemporary.
- Origin: Greek (via Slavic use); separately a Persian name
- Pronunciation: NEE-kah · ˈniːkə
- Meaning: victory (from Greek Nike)
- Popularity: #3,149 and falling (#2,810 → #3,149, 2024)
Coincides with Greek Nike; means something else entirely.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Goodness, virtue
- Popularity: #10,024 and falling (#6,846 → #10,024, 2024)
Diminutive form.
- Origin: Slavic/Arabic
- Pronunciation: NAH-dee-ah · ˈnɑːdiə
- Meaning: hope (Slavic, from Nadezhda); also ‘tender’ in Arabic usage
- Popularity: #513 and falling (#489 → #513, 2024)
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Diminutive of Niloufar
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Casual and sweet.
- Origin: Old Persian
- Meaning: Daughter of Cyrus the Great; modern usage
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Historic.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: A poet’s pen name
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
After Rira Abbasi; literary.
- Origin: Persian, from Arabic
- Meaning: Seashell, mother-of-pearl
- Popularity: #4,987 and rising (#8,401 → #4,987, 2024)
The shell, not the pearl.
- Origin: Hebrew (variant spelling of Sarah)
- Pronunciation: SAIR-ah · ˈsɛrə
- Meaning: princess; noblewoman
- Popularity: #188, holding steady (2024)
The Persian usage emphasizes purity.
- Origin: Persian, from Arabic
- Meaning: Shore, coast
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
For a beach-loving family.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Cupbearer, the one who pours wine
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A central figure in Hafez.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Wild red poppy
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Difficult for English speakers to pronounce but worth it.
- Origin: Persian
- Pronunciation: sher-VEEN · ʃɛrˈviːn
- Meaning: lion-hearted (widely claimed, not rigorously verified)
- Popularity: #13,867 as of 2023 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Used for both genders.
- Origin: Irish (place name); also Sanskrit (‘star’)
- Pronunciation: TAIR-ah · ˈtɛrə
- Meaning: named after the Hill of Tara, ancient seat of Irish kings (the place name’s own root meaning is disputed); a separate Sanskrit-origin sense means ‘star’
- Popularity: #1,021 and rising (#1,163 → #1,021, 2024)
Royal and Aristocratic Names — Queens, Princesses, Pahlavi Era
Iran’s last royal dynasty (1925–1979) revived many ancient Persian names. These carry a faint air of palaces and old photographs.
Empress Farah Pahlavi, Iran’s last queen; serene and dignified.
The Shah’s second wife, whose tragic love story made world headlines.
- Origin: Arabic-Persian
- Meaning: Successful, victorious
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Shah’s first wife, an Egyptian princess.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Pride of the king
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Shah’s eldest daughter.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Joyful pride
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Shah’s second daughter.
- Origin: Arabic-Persian
- Meaning: Most noble
- Popularity: #4,428 and rising (#5,261 → #4,428, 2024)
The Shah’s twin sister.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Crown of the kingdom
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A Qajar princess turned feminist memoirist.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Light, brilliance
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
After the poet Forough Farrokhzad; modernist and brilliant.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Successor, daughter
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
After Pouran Dokht, the Sassanian queen who ruled in her own name.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Daughter of the elder, immortal lady
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A 7th-century Sassanian queen.
- Origin: Old Persian
- Meaning: Well-grown
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Daughter of Cyrus, wife of Darius, mother of Xerxes.
- Origin: Old Persian
- Meaning: Daughter of the Median king Astyages, mother of Cyrus the Great
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Foundational.
- Origin: Old Persian
- Meaning: Wife of Cyrus the Great
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Mentioned in Herodotus.
- Origin: Old Persian
- Meaning: Wife of Artaxerxes II
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Court intrigue in the original.
- Origin: Old Persian
- Meaning: Wife of Darius II
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Powerful and feared.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Sun-portrait, image of love
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Pahlavi-era favorite.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Daughter of the heir, queenly
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A Sassanian queen regnant.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: From Turan, the land beyond the Oxus
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Vintage and a little exotic.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Brave
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Mostly masculine but used for girls in some families.
- Origin: Persian (biblical, via Hebrew)
- Pronunciation: VASH-ty · ˈvæʃtaɪ
- Meaning: beautiful
- Popularity: #11,006 and falling (#7,609 → #11,006, 2024)
The queen who refused to dance for Xerxes in the Book of Esther; defiant.
- Origin: Hebrew (Biblical), root disputed
- Pronunciation: ES-ter · ˈɛstər
- Meaning: star
- Popularity: #131 and rising (#138 → #131, 2024)
The Jewish queen of Persia; biblical and Persian both.
Sufi and Spiritually-Inflected Names
Sufism, the mystical tradition within Islam, flourished in Persian-speaking lands. Many of its central concepts — devotion, longing, divine love — became names.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Love, divine love
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Kind, loving
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Often used for boys; works for girls.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Sweetness of love
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The pride of being loved.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Of love, of the sun
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Short and warm.
- Origin: Persian, from Arabic
- Meaning: Beloved
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Beloved
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Variant spelling.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Little light, the original Roxana
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Diminutive of Roshana.
- Origin: Turkish (ultimately from Arabic نور ‘light’)
- Pronunciation: NOOR · ˈnʊr
- Meaning: light
- Popularity: #4,728 and falling (#3,165 → #4,728, 2024)
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Sweet, pleasant
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Tender and feminine.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Prayer, supplication
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The act of devotion itself.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Praise, glorification
- Popularity: #11,949 and falling (#5,522 → #11,949, 2024)
Devotional and modern.
- Origin: Arabic (Qur’anic)
- Meaning: a spring in Paradise
- Popularity: #3,626 and rising (#4,033 → #3,626, 2024)
The water the blessed drink.
- Origin: Persian, from Arabic
- Meaning: A tree in paradise; repentance
- Popularity: #6,349 and rising (#7,599 → #6,349, 2024)
Two layered meanings.
- Origin: Arabic
- Pronunciation: ZAH-ruh · ˈzɑːrə
- Meaning: the radiant/blooming one (an epithet of Fatima, daughter of Muhammad)
- Popularity: #543 and rising (#555 → #543, 2024)
One of the most common Persian girl names.
- Origin: Persian, from Arabic
- Meaning: Pleasing, satisfied
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
After the great singer Marziyeh.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Voice of love
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Compound; poetic.
- Origin: Hebrew/Aramaic (also a legendary Armenian patriarch name)
- Pronunciation: ah-RAHM · ɑːˈrɑːm
- Meaning: Tranquility, peace
- Popularity: #13,599 and rising (#15,329 → #13,599, 2024)
Unisex; gentle.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Sweet peace
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Rare compound.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Honor, light from afar
- Popularity: #15,948 as of 2023 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Elegant and uncommon.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Pride, dignity
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
For a strong-spirited girl.
- Origin: Persian, from Arabic *ghazal*
- Meaning: Gazelle
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Also the lyric poem form Hafez perfected.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Lyric poem, gazelle
- Popularity: #4,218 and rising (#4,679 → #4,218, 2024)
The poetic form itself becomes the name.
- Origin: Persian, from Arabic
- Meaning: Gift
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
For a long-awaited baby.
- Origin: Germanic
- Pronunciation: HIL-dah · ˈhɪldə
- Meaning: battle
- Popularity: #3,053 and falling (#2,989 → #3,053, 2024)
Cross-cultural usage.
Sound-Forward Persian Names — Short, Punchy, Travel-Friendly
For parents who want a name that sails through international airports without revision. Two or three syllables, all phonemes that exist in English.
Crosses into Spanish, Japanese, and English seamlessly.
- Origin: Scandinavian/German/Russian (pet form of Helena, Magdalena, or Yelena)
- Pronunciation: LEE-nah · ˈliːnə
- Meaning: short/pet form of Helena, Magdalena, or Yelena
- Popularity: #263 and rising (#270 → #263, 2024)
- Origin: Hebrew (via Latin/Greek)
- Pronunciation: AN-ah · ˈænə
- Meaning: grace
- Popularity: #94 and falling (#79 → #94, 2024)
- Origin: Irish (via Ciara) and/or Persian (via Cyrus); also used in Japan
- Pronunciation: KEER-uh · ˈkɪrə
- Meaning: Irish ‘ciar’ = dark/black (via Ciara); also linked to Persian Cyrus (disputed sense) — not ‘shining’ as commonly claimed
- Popularity: #455 and falling (#429 → #455, 2024)
Coincides with Slavic Kira.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: judged, vindicated
- Popularity: #1,334 and falling (#1,155 → #1,334, 2024)
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: radiance, brilliance
- Popularity: #1,449 and falling (#1,322 → #1,449, 2024)
Bright sound.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Diminutive of Roxana
- Popularity: #3,204 and falling (#3,007 → #3,204, 2024)
Modern nickname for old name.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Pure, alone
- Popularity: #8,861 and falling (#8,419 → #8,861, 2024)
Used as standalone.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Pure goodness
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
How These Names Are Trending
32 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 34 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.
How These Names Are Trending
32 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 34 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.
How These Names Are Trending
32 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 34 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.
How These Names Are Trending
32 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 34 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.
How These Names Are Trending
32 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 34 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.
Modern coinage.
The most compact Persian name; one syllable, all magic.
Modern and crisp.
Same as above; the Persian etymology is humble.
How to Choose a Name From This List
Say it out loud. Then say it with your last name. Then say it the way an irritated kindergarten teacher will call it across a playground. A name that survives all three tests is doing real work.
If the name comes from the Shahnameh or Zoroastrian tradition, learn the story. Your daughter will eventually ask, and “I chose it because it sounded nice” is a thinner answer than “she was the warrior who duelled the prince of Turan disguised as a man.” Persian names reward parents who know what they’re carrying.
Pay attention to the spelling you choose. Soraya and Sorayya, Yasamin and Yasmin, Roxana and Roxanna — these are functionally the same name, but the spelling you pick will be the one she writes for the rest of her life. Pick the one that looks right to your eye on the page.
Consider whether the name will travel. Some of these names — Shaghayegh, Pouruchista, Tajossaltaneh — are gorgeous in Persian but will require lifelong patience from your daughter in English-speaking contexts. Others — Roya, Mina, Tara, Leila — slip across borders unchanged. Neither path is wrong, but they are different paths.
And finally: trust the recognition. The name you keep coming back to, the one you whisper to yourself in the car, the one you’ve quietly tested on three friends already — that’s the one.
Name Art for Your Favorite
Love a name from this list? MinimalistMama offers custom Name Art prints — personalized, minimalist nursery art with the name you choose, designed to match your aesthetic. A perfect gift for baby showers or to hang above the crib.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Persian names religious or secular?
Both, and it depends on the root. Names from the Shahnameh, Zoroastrian tradition, and Persian poetry (Mahsa, Roya, Anahita, Setareh) are secular in origin. Names with Arabic roots that came through Islam (Zahra, Maryam, Nadia) carry religious resonance. Many modern Iranian families deliberately choose pre-Islamic Persian names as a way of honoring older cultural identity. Either tradition produces beautiful names.
How do you pronounce names like Shaghayegh or Pouruchista?
Persian has a few sounds that don’t exist in English — the *gh* in Shaghayegh is a soft guttural, similar to the French *r*. For most Western contexts, families simplify: Shaghayegh becomes “sha-GHA-yegh” with a soft G, Pouruchista becomes “poo-roo-CHIS-ta.” If pronounceability matters to you, names like Roya, Mina, Leila, Soraya, and Tara are effortless in English.
What’s the difference between Persian and Arabic names?
Persian (Farsi) is an Indo-European language; Arabic is Semitic. They’re as different as English and Hebrew. However, after the Arab conquest of Iran in the 7th century, many Arabic words and names entered Persian use. So a “Persian name” today might be an ancient Indo-Iranian word like *Anahita*, a poetic Persian word like *Setareh*, or an Arabic word naturalized into Persian centuries ago like *Zahra*. All are legitimately Persian in current use.
Are these names used in the Iranian diaspora?
Very much so. The roughly 2 million people of Iranian heritage in North America and Europe have kept these names alive — and have actually accelerated revivals of pre-Islamic names like *Anahita*, *Atusa*, and *Roshanak* as a way of staying culturally rooted. You won’t be the only family at your pediatrician’s office with a Persian name, but you’ll likely be the only one in the kindergarten class.
Will my daughter face issues with non-Persian speakers mispronouncing her name?
Honestly, sometimes. Names like Soraya, Roxana, Leila, and Yasmin are now common enough in English that they cause no friction. Names like Niloufar, Mehrnoosh, or Shaghayegh will require a lifetime of gentle correction. Many Iranian-American families choose a Persian name that English speakers can already say (Tara, Mina, Roya, Sara) or pair a Persian first name with a more familiar middle name.
What does the ending “-dokht” mean in names like Pouran-dokht or Mehrdokht?
*Dokht* (دخت) is the classical Persian word for “daughter.” So Pourandokht means “daughter of Pouran,” Mehrdokht means “daughter of the sun,” and Sindokht means “daughter of India.” It’s a beautiful old suffix that signals a name with deep roots in classical Persian rather than modern coinage. The names ending in *-dokht* tend to feel especially literary.
How do Persian girl names typically end?
Most end in a vowel sound — *-a*, *-eh*, *-i*, or *-oo* — which gives them their characteristic lyrical quality. Names ending in *-eh* (Banafsheh, Parvaneh, Elaheh) are particularly Persian and rarer in other naming traditions. The vowel endings also make these names easier to integrate into English, since English speakers naturally soften final vowels.
📊 Curious how popular a name actually is? Look it up in our Baby Name Popularity Checker — pulls live SSA data to show ranking trends.
Final Thoughts
A name from this list will sit on your daughter’s lips for the rest of her life. It will be embroidered on backpacks, called across soccer fields, signed at the bottom of love letters and tax returns. Persian names — polished by ten centuries of poets who took beauty seriously — are exceptionally well-equipped for that long carry. Whichever one you choose, you’re handing her something that’s been quietly perfected for a very long time.
Read next;
🎀 185+ Unique Baby Girl Names for 2026 (Rare & *Beautiful*)
🎀 85+ *Beautiful* Rare Baby Names for Girls
🎀 40+ *Best* Girl Names That Start with G
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