Some Persian Feminine Names and Etymologies

From the Timurid Dynasty

Ursula Georges

Introduction

During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the Timurid dynasty ruled a Persian empire. Their domain included the modern countries of Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as parts of the surrounding nations. John E. Woods' pamphlet The Timurid Dynasty gives a family tree of the Timurid rulers of Persian and their descendants, wives, and concubines, based on a manuscript composed in the fifteenth century. The Timurids were ethnically Mongol; the names of the Timurid dynasty display a mix of Mongol, Turkic, Arabic, and Persian roots. This article collects most of the etymologically Persian women's given names from The Timurid Dynasty; I have also given the etymology of each name, insofar as I could determine it.

The recorded names of the members of the Timurid dynasty display a mix of names, titles, and titular names such as Jahânshâh 'king of the world'. The distinction between given name and title is frequently blurred, as in the case of Sultânum Begum, whose name translates literally as 'princess lady'. In the list below, I have tried to err on the side of omitting names that might be titles, rather than including titles which sound like given names.

Names

Name	Etymology
Bakht	fortune
Bakht Dawlat	fortune authority
Bakht Nigâr	fortune painting/fortune beauty
Dawlat	wealth, authority
Dawlat Bakht	authority fortune
Dil	heart
Dil Dâr	heart-holding
Dil Khûsh	happy heart
Dil Shâd	happy heart
Durr	pearl
Fâkhire	glorious (?)
Firuz Bakht	successful fortune/turquoise fortune
Firuze	successful/turquoise
Gawhar	pearl, jewel
Gawhar Shâd	happy pearl
Gul	rose, flower
Gul Badan	rose body
Gul Bîkî	rose lady
Gul Nâr	pomegranate flower
Gul Rang	rose color
Gul Rukh	rose face
Gul Shâh	rose king
Husn Nigâr	beauty like a painting
Jân	soul, life
La`l	ruby
Mihr Bânû	sun lady
Mihr Khush	happy sun
Mihr Nigâr	sun beauty
Mihr Nûsh	immortal sun
Nâr Gul	pomegranate flower
Nigâr	painting, beauty
Nurûz	New Year
Pîrûz	victory
Shâd Bakht	happy fortune
Shâh Bânû	king lady
Shahr Bânû	lady of the land
Shîrîn	sweet

Source

John E. Woods, The Timurid Dynasty, Bloomington: Indiana University, Papers on Inner Asia no. 14, 1990

Available from the Sinor Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies at Indiana University.

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By Ursula Whitcher, alias Ursula Georges, 2012