ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3007 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3007 ************************************ 23 Mar 2005 From: Josh Mittleman Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for Persian woman in the 14th or 17th century. You asked if there's a way to add a phrase meaning "of the house of wind". Here is what we have found. We don't have a great deal of information about Persian names in our period, but we believe we have enough at least to partially answer your question. was originally a Persian form of the Arabic name for the constellation the Pleiades, . (The Persian name for constellation is different, , where the double vowel represents a longer-duration pronunciation) [1]. The Arabic letter 'tha that represents the sound \th\ was pronounced \s\ in Persian [2]. The Arabic name was used in our period: A 15th century Christian woman enslaved by Muslims in al-Andalus (Spain) was known by this name [3, 4]. We do not have enough data to say whether the name was used earlier or whether it was used in Persia in our period; nor whether it was used by free women as well as slaves -- in many cultures, including some Muslim cultures, slaves were given names quite different from those of free men and women [5]. is a Persian-language masculine name associated with the Parsi religion, according to a couple websites that we think are trustworthy. One of these sources glosses the name "friend of angels". This gloss should be understood as the etmyological origin of the name; we do not know the extent to which is would have been apparent to a late-period Persian. Etymologies of names are significant in some cultures, irrelevant in others [6]. We also aren't sure this etymology is correct: Another source glosses it "God's friend" [7]. We have also found this name used in an Arabic patronymic, , recorded in the early 11th century [8]. We do not know whether the name remained in use as late as your period, but it's certainly possible. Both Arabic and Persian were used as languages of record in late-period Persia. The examples we have of late-period Persian-language names do not follow standard Arabic patterns like bint , but we believe that a Persian woman's name could have been recorded in Arabic in that form. We don't have evidence that the Arabic word was used in the Persian language, though, nor that women were identified in Persian as their father's daughters. Going by the small sample we have of Persian women's names, a noblewoman was more likely to be identified by her given name and title (such as , late 15th-early 16th century); and other women might be identified by given name and place of origin (like ). The examples we have before the 15th century identify women by given name alone [9]. In sum: We know that your given name was used in Arabic after your period and that the name you've chosen for your father is Persian and was used in an Arabic document before your period. We cannot prove that the two parts were used at the same time, though, or that your given name was used in Persia before modern times. It is plausible, but unfortunately we can't say more than that. The overall form of your name is fine for a Persian woman as she would have been identified in Arabic; but it isn't correct in Persian. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Juliana de Luna, Talan Gwynek, Juetta Copin, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Gunnvor Silfraharr, and Ursula Georges. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 23 Mar 2005 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Schimmel, Annemarie, _Islamic Names_ (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1989), pp. 3, 45. [2] Alan S. Kaye, 'Adaptations of Arabic Scripts', in in _The World's Writing Systems_, ed. by Peter T. Daniels and William Bright (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1996), p.746. [3] "Isabel de Soli/s" (WWW: Wikipedia en espan~ol, 2004). http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_de_Sol%C3%ADs [4] Manuela Marin, _Mujeres en al-A/ndalus_, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Madrid, 2000, pp. 66, 129. [5] Peirce, Leslie _The Imperial Harem_, New York: Oxford University Press, 1993, pp. 35, 132, 142-143, 296. [6] "Parsi names" (WWW: Avesta Zoroastrian Archives, accessed Mar 2005). http://www.avesta.org/znames.htm#parsi [7] Schimmel, pp.18, 66. [8] Mustapha al-Muhaddith ibn al-Saqaat, "Arabic Personal Names from the Futuwwah", ed. Arval Benicoeur and Avelina of the Bridge (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mustapha/futuwwah.html. [9] Aryanhwy merch Catmael (Sara L. Uckelman) & Ursula Georges (Ursula Whitcher), "Persian Feminine Names from the Safavid Period" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2004). This article uses a caret (^) over a vowel where we have used a double vowel. http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ursula/persian.html