Published on 11/24/2020 16:51 By Rajnandini Roychoudhury;Monisha Kochhar
Edited by Monisha Kochhar | Fact-checked by
In ancient times, Iran was called Persia, and hence, Iranian have ancient origins.
Last names carry with them the memory, meaning, and understanding of a person and their life. This is why it is important to ensure that you select the perfect last name for a person or character.
The culture of Persia is very influential. Iran has contributed a lot to the birth of our current globalized world, and so have Iranian names.
Persians are Iran’s largest ethnic group. Therefore, almost all Iranian last names have a Persian origin, and most of the other names are of Arabic or Turkish origin. Some Persian surname tends to have a suffix along with a common name.
An example of such a suffix is ‘-zadeh.’ Iran being the heart of the Persian empire of antiquity, makes most of these names from the Urdu and Persian languages.
If you are looking for rich, suitable names with meaning that go well with your character and their related attributes, we are here to help you. Here’s a rundown of 100 Iranian last names that you can give your fictional character to make them stand out as an example in the fictional world.
If you want to learn more surnames from around the world, then you can read up our articles on Turkish Last Names and Muslim last names.
Common Iranian Last Names
There are a number of common Iranian last names that are known world-over for their origin from Iran. Most of them are commonly used terms in the Persian language as well. Here are a few of them.
1. Adl meaning “justice”.
2. Ahmadi meaning “a follower of the Ahmadiyya movement”.
3. Al-Hashimi meaning “destroyer”.
4. Amiri meaning “son of Amir, a descendant of Amir”.
5. Anvari meaning “radiance”.
6. Arbab meaning “boss, master, landlord”.
7. Asadzadeh meaning “son of Asad”. Asad with the suffix ‘-zadeh’.
8. Ashraf meaning “very noble”.
9. Ayari meaning “caliber, standard”.
10. Azar meaning “fire”. Azar is the ninth month in the Solar Hijri calendar which is considered to be the official calendar of Iran.
11. Azimi meaning “mighty, magnificent, glorious”. This name is the result of the suffix-i added to the Arab name ‘Azim’.
12. Behzadi meaning “born from a good origin”.
13. Bukhari meaning “from Bukhara”. Bukhara is the name of an ancient city in the central Asian country of Uzbekistan that was formerly occupied by Persia.
14. Davudi meaning “beloved”. This is similar to the surname of Ali Murad Davudi was the name of a beloved former Iranian philosopher.
15. Ebrahimi meaning “father of a multitude of many nations”. Abolfazl Ebrahimi, an Iranian footballer bears this family name.
16. Esmail meaning “gift from God”.
17. Fattahi meaning “home-loving”.
18. Fayazi meaning “charitable, considerate”.
19. Haddad meaning “blacksmith”. Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel is the name of an Iranian politician who was the former chairman of the Parliament.
20. Hakkimi meaning “sage”. Ebrahim Hakimi was an Iranian statesman who served as prime minister of Iran three times.
21. Hamid meaning “praiseworthy”.
22. Imam meaning “the one who leads the way”. Imam is also the name used to call the person who leads the prayer in a mosque.
23. Jalil meaning “great, revered”.
24. Javid meaning “eternal”. Jahanshah Javid is a famous Iranian journalist.
25. Karim meaning “generous, noble, honorable”. Karim is also the name of a village in the western province of Iran.
26. Khademi meaning “he who serves and cares”. Lt. Gen. Ali Mohammad Khademi was the general manager of Iran Air.
27. Khairi meaning “beneficent, good”. Khair with the suffix-i.
28. Khajeli meaning “shy”.
29. Khan meaning “sovereign, emperor, prince”. Khan is also a historical title that was used in medieval times to refer to a king or someone of noble and royal authority.
30. Kia meaning “keeper of keys, Earth”.
31. Mafi meaning “loving”.
32. Mahmoud meaning “praiseworthy”.
33. Majidi meaning “glorious”. Majid Majidi is an Iranian film director and producer.
34. Maryam meaning “exalted one”.
35. Masoudi meaning “fortunate, prosperous, happy”.
36. Mirza meaning “royal prince, scholar”. Prince Iraj Mirza, son of prince Gholam-Hossein Mirza, was a famous Iranian poet.
37. Mostafa meaning “the chosen one”.
38. Mousa meaning “newborn, save by the water”. Mousa is the name of the prophet that could move the sea.
39. Nasiri meaning “helper”.
40. Noor meaning “divine light”.
41. Qasemi meaning “one who distributes”. Rostam Qasemi is an Iranian military officer and politician who was also the minister of petroleum.
42. Rashidi meaning “rightly guided”. Davoud Rashidi, Iranian actor bears this family name.
43. Saadat meaning “happiness”. Bardia Saadat is the name of a volleyball player from Iran who currently plays for the Serbian volleyball team.
44. Saeed meaning “happy”.
45. Safar meaning “worker in copper/brass”. Safar is the name of a village located in Khuzestan Province, Iran.
46. Safdari meaning “the split in ranks”.
47. Salahi meaning “one who prays regularly”.
48. Sajedi meaning “one who prostrates”.
49. Shafi/Sha’afi meaning “advocate, mediator”. This surname can be found in the name of Al Sha’afi, an Arab Muslim writer and scholar from Iran.
50. Shahin meaning “majestic”.
51. Sharif meaning “noble, honorable, high born”.
52. Soleiman meaning “man of peace”. Qasem Soleimani was the name of an Iranian major general who was part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
53. Taleb meaning “student”.
54. Zahir meaning “blossoming, flourishing”
55. Zoheri meaning “booming”. This is a common name found in parts of Iran.
Traditional Persian Surnames And Their Meanings
The heritage of Jews can be traced back to Iran, which is why most of the traditional surnames in Iran are Iranian Jewish last names. Most of these names are from the Arabic and Urdu languages. Here is a list of the most popular Persian traditional surnames of Iran.
56. Abdullahi meaning “God servant”. This is the most common traditional Persian name.
57. Ahadi meaning “with much promise”. Ahadi is another name with the suffix- i, added to the Persian name Ahad.
58. Akhtar meaning “star”. Akhtar is the name of a Persian language newspaper published in the Iranian community during the late nineteenth century.
59. Asad meaning “lion”. This is a very common surname in Persia.
60. Kabiri meaning “the great”.
61. Khorami meaning “happy”. Mohammed Khorami is a famous Iranian physicist.
62. Morad meaning “desire, wish”. Morad is a village in a rural district located in the central part of Iran.
63. Mullah meaning “vicar, master, guardian”.
64. Pashaei meaning “descendants of an Indo-Aryan group”. This name can be associated with Hossein Pashaei, a popular Iranian footballer.
65. Sadiq meaning “truthful”. Muhammad Sadiq is an eighteenth-century Iranian painter known famously for his variety of oil paintings.
66. Safa meaning “purity, clarity”.
67. Tayyebi meaning “good”. Hossein Tayyebi is an Iranian professional football player who plays for the Portuguese club Benfica.
68. Yousef meaning “God increases”.
Famous Last Names In Iran
Are you looking to name your fictional character after the surname of famous Persian people? Here’s a list of surnames of some famous celebrities for you.
69. Abu–Ali meaning “father of Ali”. Abu Ali is a district in Iran.
70. Amanpour meaning “protector of streams”. Christiane Amanpour is the name of a world-renowned English journalist with a Persian ancestral background.
71. Aria meaning “noble”. Fatemah Motamed-Aria is the name of an actress who is known for her role in the movie, ‘Nabat’.
72. Behdad meaning “the best gift of God”. Hamed Behdad is the name of an actor who is known for his role in ‘End of Game’.
73. Boniadi meaning “foundation”. Nazanin Boniadi is the name of a British English actress as well as a human rights defender who was born in Iran.
74. Daryush meaning “holding firm the good”. This name is derived from Darius-I was the name of the third Persian King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire.
75. Entezami meaning “discipline, order”. Ezzatolah Entezami is an award-winning Iranian actor.
76. Hatami meaning “generous”. Leila Hatami is the name of an award-winning actress.
77. Hosseini meaning “handsome, beautiful”. Khalid Hosseini is a very notable writer known the world over with Iranian descent.
78. Iran meaning “the land of the Aryans”. The name of the country itself is a common surname used by people to denote the Iranian origin of a person.
79. Kianian meaning “king, realm”. Reza Kianian is an Iranian actor who began his acting career in theater.
80. Kossari meaning “dealer of horses”. Baran Kosari is the name of an Iranian actress, model, and designer.
81. Maghsoodloo, Parham Maghsoodloo is a popular Iranian chess player.
82. Ramezani meaning “scorching heat”. Derived from Ramadan, which is the name of the ninth month in the Arabic calendar. Alireza Ramezani is a famous Iranian footballer.
83. Rouhani meaning “spiritual, cleric”. Hassan Rouhani was an Iranian politician and is serving as the seventh and current President of Iran, which makes it a perfect Iranian last name.
84. Zamani meaning “time, era, age”. Mostafa Zamani is the name of a famous Iranian male actor.
Unique Iranian Surnames
If you’re looking for Persian last names that are not very common to help your character surname be different, you’ve come to the right place. Here are a few Persian people’s names that are not found to be common.
85. Aaqeel meaning “knowledgeable, wise’.
86. Abedini meaning “infinity”.
87. Ahmadzadeh meaning “descendant/son of Ahmad”. Ahmad with the suffix ‘-zadeh’.
88. Amrei meaning “grace, favor”.
89. Fatemi meaning “emperor”. Hossein Fatemi is the name of a Persian scholar and politician.
90. Fazeli meaning “a man with knowledge”.
91. Mehri meaning “lovable, kind, sunny”.
92. Monfared meaning “alone, a solo person”.
93. Mortazavi meaning “attained of pleasure of God”.
94. Nezami meaning “related to Nizam”.
95. Qademe meaning “ancient, antique”.
96. Rahnama meaning “one who guides you”.
97. Salamat meaning “soundness, integrity”.
98. Siah meaning “black”.
99. Zaynzadeh meaning “related to Zayn”. This is a name that can be used if your character is the son of a person named Zayn.
100. Zohrabi meaning “deep thinker, idealist”. Sara Zohrabi Nia is an Iranian footballer who plays for a Women’s football league club.
has lots of great names articles to inspire you. If you liked our suggestions for Iranian Last Names then why not take a look at something different like Turkish Last Names or Pakistani Names.
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