Portrayal of Iranian Identity in the Literary The Role of Names in Ancient Persia

Names have always been the most important factor for giving identity to and distinguishing people in a society. The selection of a name not only shows the person's attitude to society and nature, but also reveals their religious thought. Reviewing the literature of historical and social studies concerning the selection of special words can demonstrate the ethnicity, religion and social distribution of each era. As historical records show, several factors have influenced the selection of ancient Persian names; however, the religion has had a fundamental role. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine position of name and the rituals associated with naming in the ancient Persia and particularly in the Sassanid era. Then, the ways in which people selected names for their children was determined. The role and functions of the name in Avesta, the most important book that has remained from ancient Persia, was another goal that this paper followed. The results indicated that the taboo and strength involved in sacred and mythological names have been among the issues that Sassanid Kings used in order to reach their goals. Moreover, it was found that the taboo of name in Zoroastrianism religion and Sassanid king's thoughts were other major issues. It was also revealed that durability concern was the incentive for building many valuable monuments in Sassanid era and the factor for legislating some civil and juridical laws.