Persian Girl Names

Persian, or Farsi, is one of the oldest literary languages still in daily use, and its poetry has shaped naming across Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia and far beyond. Girls' names from Persian often come from flowers, light, beauty and the night sky. Jasmine is the clearest example: the flower's English name comes from the Persian word yasamin, which is why Yasmin and Yazmin appear on the same list.

Many of these names traveled through Arabic, Hebrew and Turkish before reaching English speakers. Esther is often linked to a Persian word for star, and the biblical queen of that name lived in the Persian court. Laila, Leila and Leyla recall the heroine of a classic love story told and retold in Persian poetry, and Zahra and Mina are used widely across the Persian-speaking world.

The biggest decision with this group is usually spelling. Jasmine alone appears here in several forms, and Laila, Leila and Leyla are pronounced a little differently depending on family tradition. Choose the spelling that matches how you will say the name at home, and think about whether you want a form that reads easily in English or one that stays closer to the original sound.