Persian2 syllablesRomance
Meaning: won, attained, gained.
Farhad
| Origin | Persian — from Old Iranian Frahata-; the stonecutter of the Khosrow and Shirin romance |
|---|---|
| Meaning | Won, gained, attained. The same name reached Greek as Phraates, borne by five Parthian kings |
| Pronunciation | far-HAHD (two syllables, the second long and open) |
| Popularity | Outside the current U.S. top 100. Everyday in Iran, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan, and as Ferhat in Turkey; rare in America |
| Variants | Ferhat (Turkish), Farhod (Uzbek, Tajik), Farhaad, Frahata (Old Iranian), Phraates (Greek) |
| Nicknames | Farhi and Fari are used affectionately in Iran; the full name is the norm |
| Landmark | Farhad Tarash, a huge unfinished rock-cut face at Bisotun in Kermanshah, is named for him by local tradition |
History & meaning
Farhad is one of the few names on this list with a settled etymology and a documented ancient career. It descends from Old Iranian Frahata-, won or attained, and it is the same name the Greeks wrote as Phraates for five Parthian kings, the earliest of them reigning in the second century BCE. So before it was a love story it was a royal name, which is not how most people meet it.
Most people meet it through Nezami Ganjavi's Khosrow and Shirin, finished around 1180. Ferdowsi had told the story of the Sasanian king Khosrow Parviz and the Armenian princess Shirin in the Shahnameh, but the stonecutter is Nezami's creation, and he took it over. Farhad is a mason and engineer hired to cut a milk channel through rock for Shirin, and he falls in love with her. Khosrow, unable to buy him off, sets him to carve a stairway through Mount Bisotun on the promise that Shirin will be his if he finishes. He is close to finishing when the king sends a messenger with false news that she is dead, and Farhad throws down his axe and dies on the mountain. Bisotun is a real cliff in Kermanshah, carrying Darius the Great's trilingual inscription, and on the same rock face is a vast smoothed panel of unknown Sasanian purpose that Iranians have called Farhad Tarash, Farhad's cut, for centuries. The story crossed languages: Turkish has Ferhat ile Sirin, and the tale is told from the Balkans to Central Asia. Among Persian names, Farhad is the one that stands for love and craft rather than combat.
Why parents choose it
It has a strong first syllable and a long open second, which carries well across a room. The associations are unusual for a name from this tradition: labour, devotion and skill with the hands. It is also genuinely current, an ordinary working name across four or five countries rather than a revival.
Middle names for Farhad
Avoid another long ah; pick a middle with a different vowel core: Farhad Emile, Farhad Cyrus, Farhad Louis, Farhad Kian. The middle names guide shows how to test the joins.
Famous Farhads
Farhad Mehrad (1943 to 2002), who recorded simply as Farhad, was one of the defining voices of Iranian protest-era popular music; his song Jom'eh is still played every Friday somewhere. Farhad Manjoo has written technology and opinion columns for Slate, the Wall Street Journal and, since 2018, the New York Times.
Consider instead
Ramin and Bijan are the other two Persian romance leads, and both are lighter on the tongue. Khosrow is the king in Farhad's own story if you want the other side of it.