ArmenianParthian root2 syllables
Meaning: the Armenian form of Arsaces, the Parthian royal name.
Arshak
| Origin | Armenian form of Parthian Aršak, which Greek writers wrote as Arsaces |
|---|---|
| Meaning | Most often derived from Old Iranian aršan-, “man, male, hero”; a competing reading connects it to arša, “bear”. Neither is settled |
| Pronunciation | ar-SHAHK, ending on a hard stop |
| Popularity | Outside the current U.S. top 100 and rare in America; in Armenia it reads as old-fashioned in the way Cyril or Rupert do in English |
| Variants | Arsaces (Greek), Arshag (Western Armenian), Ashk (the Persian reflex) |
| Nicknames | None standard; Arshag serves as the everyday Western Armenian form |
| Dynasty | The Arshakuni, the Armenian branch of the Parthian Arsacids, held the throne from the first century AD to 428 |
History & meaning
Arsaces founded the Parthian royal house in the third century BC, and his name promptly stopped being only a name: his successors put it on their coins as a title, so that Arsaces on a Parthian drachm tells you the dynasty rather than the man. A branch of that family took the Armenian throne, and Armenian calls them the Arshakuni. They are the dynasty in place when Armenia adopted Christianity in the early fourth century, and they end in 428, when the Sasanians retired the last king and installed a governor instead.
The bearer Armenians actually remember is Arshak II, king from about 350 to 368, squeezed between Rome and the Persia of Shapur II. Faustus of Byzantium, writing in the following century, has him summoned to the Persian court, imprisoned in the fortress Armenians called Anhush Berd — the Castle of Oblivion — and dying there. The name itself belongs to the same Iranian stratum that gave Armenian Tigran and Suren, a reminder of how much of the country's aristocratic vocabulary arrived from the east.
Why parents choose it
Consonants, mostly. Arshak is blunt where Aram is smooth, and families choosing it are usually after exactly that: an unsentimental, pre-Christian, obviously Armenian name with no soft edges and no English near-equivalent to be mistaken for.
Middle names for Arshak
The hard ending wants a vowel to open the middle name: Arshak Ara, Arshak Davit, Arshak Isaac, Arshak Emil. The middle names guide works through the same problem with other consonant-final names.
Famous Arshaks
Beyond the kings, two nineteenth-century figures carry the name into modern memory. Tigran Chukhajian composed Arshak II in 1868, generally described as the first Armenian opera, which is how most Armenians first meet the story. The painter Arshak Fetvadjian (1866–1947) documented the monuments of Ani and designed the banknotes and stamps of the first Republic of Armenia.
Consider instead
Suren comes from the same Parthian noble world and is easier on an English ear. Artashes belongs to the dynasty the Arshakuni replaced. Ashot takes the story forward to the Bagratid kings who rebuilt the crown after 428.