Sheila K

To the poster who says: "I

To the poster who says:
"I say hell with Arabs/Muslims. Let Israel take care of the bastards!"
It's precisely people like you who are facilitating the destruction of humanity. Too bad for you, "W" isn't running for president again. May the God of Jesus, Moses and Abraham, may Ahouramazda or any entity which is our creator, have mercy on us, with unevolved, unrefined, violent and uneducated people like you voicing their venom in the name of political reform. You're no better than "Ahma-GH-inejad" or his filthy master the "supreme leader" of scum.

Fine with me

Fine Anonyymous, you can assume whatever you want. But here is another reference that you may want to ignore:
//www.livius.org/ro-rz/roxane/roxane.htm

wikipedia is a good

wikipedia is a good referance, but it is not the final word, since anyone can edit it. the way I read it somewhere is that roxane is the greek pronuciation of rakhshan. Am I 100% sure? no, but only an expert linguist can clarify that. For now, I will lean towards my own original answer, it makes more sense, with the order of letters.

Roxana or Roxanna

Okay Anonyymous, maybe you know more than I do, that is fine with me. But see the following:
//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roxana

don't bother teaching

you're wrong about roxana's origins. it is Rakhshan, not roshanak

Esther and Roxana

Did you know that the biblical name Esther, the name of the jewish queen of Xerxes, is a purely iranian name. Esther or Ester is the old persian pronunciation of star or setareh. Arabized version of it is also used as Ostor (with taa). Same goes for Roxana which is latinized Roshanak, the wife of Alexander, the curse (as known to iranians -- watch it mullas).

A name is a name

is a name, that is all. Around revolution time, you saw more arabic names since people thought islam can get them somewhere safe. Nowadays, you see more iranian names. Few years back, even names like Azar was problematic, nowadays it is more agreeable. Some names, with western tone, need a little bit of party-bazi to get accepted in iran -- I know this by experience. I never liked my arabic name since kids made fun of it in iran, and now western people connect it to arabs and islam (and you know the rest) easily that makes me uncomfortable; but I keep using it anyway. Iranian names sound nicer to iranian ears, they rhyme much better with the softer nature of persian language; but there are some nice arabic names as well, like rana or yasamin or even ali. Arabic male names are usually ugly though.

Iran has many influences.

Iran has many influences. From Greek and Roman times, to Moghol and Arab invasions. These historical events are what makes Iranian. We have Tork, Arab, Baluch, Lor, Kord, Gilaki, Torkamab, Bahai, Jewish, Mosalmun, Zartoshti and etc all sorts of people in our country. We should be proud. If my name is Mohammad or Majid, it's just as good as Kurosh or Peyman. Muslim culture is in our back ground. To erase, punish or suppress it is to kill a part of our Identity. We can choose to better our culture by getting rid of problem areas (religion) but we should never change who we are!

Support & Defend Iranian culture by choosing Iranian names!

Every Mihan-Parast should chose Iranian names for their children - Putting an Arabo-Muslim name is a disgrace to any Iranian. No sane person would name his children after those who attacked, raped, looted, and killed their ancestors (Ali, Hossein, Mohammad)!

Iranian names are a civil form of rejection of the Islamic Republic and everything it stands for.

Honor your ancestors who fought valianlty to defend our culture and pride. Do not disgrace yourselves with Arabo-Muslim names!

Bedaaneem, Beandeesheem, Bepaakheezeem!
Beedari, Paaydari, Peeroozi!

//aryamehr11.blog

i agree ..

Thank you shila, i agree with ya. But what about this name : farhad, farokh, yasamin.. ! many ppl call these for islamic names! in west many ppl still believe that iranian speak arabic! why " iranian freinds" are quite and dont defend iranian values, and culter?

Names from hell

Jafar means: female camel in old arabic

Other 'very beautiful' arabic names are: Soghra and Kobra. Just listen to sound of these names, they seem to come from the deepest part of hell.

Asghar, Akbar, Yadolah, Abdolah,.... these extremely ugly names are just bizarre. Iranians should be ashemed of themselves.

NO TO ARAB SUBCULTURE INCLUDING THEIR NASTY RELIGION, THE BLOODY ISLAM.

Arab names=Biggest Disgrace!

Let's call those names what they really are (Arabic)

The essence and soul of a nation is based on its language and names and in our dear Iran Arabic names, words and way of life has taken over. As an Iranian the biggest disgrace for me would be to put Arabic names on my children. Persian names are beutiful and full of meaniangs.

We should clean our language and culture from anything arab.

delete or erase, but

as long as only one other person sees my posts the message is out.

Exhaume all anmams and remove their bones to Saudi Arabia
Deport all muslims from Iran
Outlaw Islam in Iran, but allow frog worship instead
No Islamic names allowed

viva Persian names

I don't have exact statistics about this, but I was there recently and I saw a lot of Arabic names, more so than say 10 years ago. I heard many ugly names that I cannot remember most, because of unfamiliarity (eg. Mohaddaseh for a a girl). I understand part of this trend, is because people get tired of using the same old name. For example when you see a 60 year old, and fat Nazanin, Fariba, Mojdeh, Kumars, Farhad, it looks just old, and people want something fresh instead, even if it is Arabic ( because it is allowed). I'm sure these names will be recycled and look fresh in a couple of generations, but now, they're just old. My personal favorites are Persian names that haven't been used much withing the past two generations.

Source?

Do you have actual proof that there are more Persian names being used now? The last time I read an academically researched article about this (back in 2004), the statistics said that there are actually more Arabic names.

Also, do we have actual instances of crack-downs on non-Arabic names? I know of a stupid list which lists supposed "banned" names, but as far as I have seen, these are bans on names such as "Desiree" and "Natasha" and "Victoria" which were neither Iranian nor Arabic.

Also, the bias might be a little misguided. There is not necessarily a relationship between the dislike of the religion/politics and onomastic conventions. More of our grand parents had Arabic names, and they did NOT live under the Islamic Republic. The new "Iranian" name trends of our generation has more to do with nationalism (which is occassionally more superficial than religion) than a dislike of IRI. Also, a lot of names you imagine are Iranian (Pantea, Azita, etc.) are not that. In general, I think this is an overblown issue.

Re:

You said: "But you rarely see people who have been subjected to so much blood letting and blood shedding as the Moslems especially have, who would agree to take on the names of the perpetrators (those responsible for the bloodshed)."

?
?
?
You got to be a complete IDIOT who thinks that religion has caused most bloodshed in the world; So many bimokh aroud us!

Here is somethings to chew on:
2. Eleanor Roosevelt
We have to face the fact that either all of us are going to die together or we are going to learn to live together and if we are to live together we have to talk.
3. Issac Asimov
Violence is the first refuge of the incompetent.
4. Herbert Hoover
Older men declare war. But it's the youth who must fight and die!
5. Jeannette Rankin, First Woman Member of Congress
You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake.
6. General Omar Bradley
In war there is no prize for the runner-up.
7. Winston Churchill
When you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite.
8. Albert Einstein
The pioneers of a warless world are the youth that refuse military service.
9. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism.
10. Ernest Hemmingway
They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war, there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason.

To: Concerned Iranian - Well said

Iranians must also be able to change their names freely in Iran. Many fisrt and last names are not worthy of keeping.

It is not about Islam: Every country should have their own names

I am not against Islam, Judaism, Chsitianity. These religions were created by very smart people to rule over the masses, which they did. But you rarely see people who have been subjected to so much blood letting and blood shedding as the Moslems especially have, who would agree to take on the names of the perpetrators (those responsible for the bloodshed). Let's face it, Iranians, like many others in that region are simply not very bright when it comes to relgion and government. They will bow and kiss the boots of anyone who kicks them harder. This is their nature. This is probably why the current government in Iran has survived: they know how to treat their subjects. Also, to respond to one other writer below, it is not true that after the Revolution, there are less Moslem names. By contrast, there are many young people, if not even the majorty who have Moslem names. The gullible people continue to name their children Islamic names. They simply do not realize that if instead, they named their child a name which is rooted in the country's long history, the Child will develop a confident sense of self, quite distinct from those with Moslem names. However, to those who currently have Islamic names, I say: do not despair! You are an Iranian, and you will be loved and respected by all. Just don't do the same disservice that your parents did to you to your child!

Nice one...

I agree with the writer....

What a waste

With all the shit going on in the world, what a waste of time to think about Names!!?? What is it to you what people prefer to name their children. If anything, none of your business. Only dumb people would have hate, and hate grows to even cover the smallest things. Shame!

Geart post Sheila. I hope real meanings of names show up

I wonder if Iranians know what Fatemeh, Jafar, Kazam, Hashem, Abbas and the rest of their names mean?

We were fooled.

Abbas means mean and ugly. Help to find their meanings here will be great for next generation Iranians.

Geart post Sheila. I hope real meanings of names show up here.

Why in the world would anyone want to name their kids after ...

a bunch of barbaric criminals such as:

1) Muhammad
2) Ali
3) Hassan
4) Hossein
5) Zeinolabedin Beemar (He had AIDS!? Got it from a Shotor!)
6) Bagher
7) Abbas (Annam Barat Morabast!)
8)Reza
9) Yazeed
10) Ebne Moljam
11) Omar
12) Abolfazal
13) Mehdi (This guy went out of sight and is still hiding from the authorities!?)

I say hell with Arabs/Muslims. Let Israel take care of the bastards!

Hog is mirror image of Goh!?

btw, arabic names do not equal islamic names

arabic names do not equal islamic names.

eg: Hanan Ashrawi is a Christian Arab.

western brain washing

sheila is a pathetic gaelic name. there it shows how modernized,westernized and patriotic your Iranian parents are.

So is the name "Alireza" a symbol of IRI's achievement?so what about if you parents chose to name you John instead of Arash- does it mean your parents are pathetic westerners wanna be?

sometimes you have to "praise" the deep observation and analysis done by pro-West,anti-Arab,anti-islam Iranians.