Khosrow is a male given name of

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

origin, most notably held by Khosrow I of

Sassanid Persia The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

, but also by other people in various locations and languages. In some times and places, the word has come to mean "king" or "ruler", and in some cases has been used as a dynastic name. ''Khosrow'' is the

Modern Persian New Persian ( fa, فارسی نو), also known as Modern Persian () and Dari (), is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into thre ...

variant. The word ultimately comes from Proto-Iranian *''Hu-sravah'' ("with good reputation"), itself ultimately from

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo- ...

*''h₁su''- ("good") + *''ḱléwos'' ("fame"). The name has been attested in

Avesta The Avesta () is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language. The Avesta texts fall into several different categories, arranged either by dialect, or by usage. The principal text in the lit ...

as () and ''Haosrauuah'', as the name of the legendary Iranian king Kay Khosrow. This is the oldest attestation. The name was used by various rulers of

Parthian Empire The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conque ...

. It has been attested in

Parthian Parthian may be: Historical * A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran * Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) * Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language * Parthian shot, an archery skill famously employed by ...

-language inscriptions as "hwsrw" (), which may be variously transcribed and pronounced. The

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

form was or . The

Old Armenian Classical Armenian (, in Eastern Armenian pronunciation: Grabar, Western Armenian: Krapar; meaning "literary anguage; also Old Armenian or Liturgical Armenian) is the oldest attested form of the Armenian language. It was first written down at ...

form was ''Khosrov'' (), derived from Parthian, and was held by several rulers of the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia. The name is still used in

modern Armenian Modern Armenian ( hy, աշխարհաբար, ''ashkharhabar'' or ''ašxarhabar'', literally the "secular/lay language") is the modern vernacular (vulgar) form of the Armenian language. Although it first appeared in the 14th century, it was not until ...

. Notable as to the use of ''Khosrow'' as a title is the father of

Mirian III of Iberia Mirian III ( ka, მირიან III) was a king of Iberia or Kartli (Georgia), contemporaneous to the Roman emperor Constantine the Great ( r. 306–337). He was the founder of the royal Chosroid dynasty. According to the early medieval Ge ...

who was known as ''k'asre'' (

Old Georgian Old Georgian (ႤႬႠჂ ႵႠႰႧႭჃႪႨ, ''enay kartuli'') was a literary language of the Georgian monarchies attested from the 5th century. The language remains in use as the liturgical language of the Georgian Orthodox Church and for ...

). This led to confusion, as some historians thought that Mirian III must therefore be the son of a

Sasanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

ruler, and not a

one. The name was notably used by several rulers of

Sassanian Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...

. In their native language,

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle ...

, the name has been spelt variously as hwslwb ( Book Pahlavi script: ), hwslwb', hwsrwb, hwslwd, and hwsrwd' in

Pahlavi scripts Pahlavi is a particular, exclusively written form of various Middle Iranian languages. The essential characteristics of Pahlavi are: *the use of a specific Aramaic-derived script; *the incidence of Aramaic words used as heterograms (called '' ...

. The name has been variously transliterated as follows: ''Husrō'', ''Husrōy'', ''Xusro'', ''Khusro'', ''Husrav'', ''Husraw'', ''Khusrau'', ''Khusraw'', ''Khusrav'', ''Xusraw'', ''Xusrow'', ''Xosrow'', ''Xosro''.* The

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

form was ''Khosróēs'' () and the

form was and . The Middle Persian word also means "famous" or "of good repute". The

New Persian New Persian ( fa, فارسی نو), also known as Modern Persian () and Dari (), is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into thr ...

variant is , which can be transliterated as ''Khusraw'', ''Khusrau'', ''Khusrav'', ''Khusru'' (based on the Classical Persian pronunciation ), or ''Khosrow'', ''Khosro'' (based on the modern

Iranian Persian Iranian Persian, Western Persian or Western Farsi, natively simply known as Persian (, ), refers to the varieties of the modern Persian language spoken in Iran and by minorities in neighboring countries, as well as by Iranian communities throu ...

pronunciations and ). The word was borrowed into

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

as ''Kisrā'' or ''Kasrā'' (), a variant which come to be used in

() as well. In

Islamic Persia The history of Iran is intertwined with the history of a larger region known as Greater Iran, comprising the area from Anatolia in the west to the borders of Ancient India and the Syr Darya in the east, and from the Caucasus and the Eurasian Step ...

, ''kisrā'' became a strong byword for tyrannical pagan kingship, and is used as a general shorthand for Sassanian rulers (hence also " Taq-e Kasra", literally "Arc of Kasra"), as ''

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...

'' is used for pre-Islamic Egyptian rulers. The Turkish variant is , derived from Ottoman Turkish (), itself from

References

{{Reflist Persian words and phrases Persian masculine given names Armenian masculine given names Azerbaijani masculine given names Royal titles Noble titles Titles of national or ethnic leadership

See also

References