Names in Afghanistan

Salman m Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Bengali, Indonesian, Malay
Means "safe" in Arabic, a derivative of سلم (salima) meaning "to be safe".

Sam 2 m Persian, Persian Mythology
Means "fire" in Persian (from an earlier Iranian root meaning "black"). This is the name of a hero in the 10th-century Persian epic the Shahnameh.

Samira 1 f Arabic, Persian
Feminine form of Samir 1.

Sanaz f Persian
Possibly means "full of grace" in Persian.

Sara f Hebrew, Greek, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, Catalan, Galician, Romanian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian, Macedonian, Polish, English, Arabic, Persian, Amharic, Tigrinya, Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Latin
Form of Sarah used in various languages.

Sardar m Persian, Urdu, Pashto
From a title meaning "chief, leader", derived from Persian سر (sar) meaning "head, authority" and the suffix دار (dār) meaning "possessor".

Setare f Persian
Alternate transcription of Persian ستاره (see Setareh).

Setareh f Persian
Means "star" in Persian.

Seyed m Persian
Alternate transcription of Persian سیّد (see Seyyed).

Seyyed m Persian
Persian form of Sayyid.

Shabnam f Persian, Urdu
Means "dew" in Persian and Urdu.

Shad 1 m Persian
Means "happy" in Persian.

Shadi 2 f Persian
Means "happiness" in Persian.

Shaheen m Persian, Urdu
Alternate transcription of Persian شاهین (see Shahin), as well as the usual Urdu transcription.

Shahin m Persian, Arabic, Bengali
Means "falcon" in Persian, referring more specifically to the Barbary falcon (species Falco pelegrinoides). The bird's name is a derivative of Persian شاه (shāh) meaning "king".

Shahnaz f & m Persian, Arabic, Urdu
Means "delight of the king" from Persian شاه (shāh) meaning "king" and ناز (nāz) meaning "delight, comfort, coquetry".

Shahram m Persian
Means "king Ram", from Persian شاه (shāh) meaning "king" combined with the name of the Yazata Ram 3.

Shahrazad f Persian (Rare), Arabic
Possibly means "noble lineage" from Persian چهر (chehr) meaning "lineage, origin" and آزاد (āzād) meaning "free, noble". Alternatively, it might mean "child of the city" from شهر (shahr) meaning "city, land" combined with the suffix زاد (zād) meaning "child of". This is the name of the fictional storyteller in The 1001 Nights. She tells a story to her husband the king every night for 1001 nights in order to delay her execution.

Shahriar m Persian
Alternate transcription of Persian شهریار (see Shahriyar).

Shahriyar m Persian
Means "lord" in Persian.

Shahrokh m Persian
Means "royal face" in Persian, from شاه (shāh) meaning "king" and رخ (rokh) meaning "face". This was the name of a 15th-century ruler of the Timurid Empire (a son of Timur).

Shahrzad f Persian
Alternate transcription of Persian شهرزاد (see Shahrazad).

Shahzad m Persian, Arabic, Urdu
Means "prince, son of the king" in Persian.

Shams f & m Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Semitic Mythology
Means "sun" in Arabic. This was the name of a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess of the sun, identified with the Akkadian sun god Shamash (whose name is related) and the northern Arabian goddess Nuha.

Shapour m Persian
Modern Persian form of Shapur.

Shapur m History, Persian
From Middle Persian 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩 (Shahpuhr) meaning "son of the king". This was the name of three Sasanian emperors.

Sharif m Arabic, Urdu, Pashto, Persian, Tajik, Uzbek, Malay
Means "noble, eminent" in Arabic, a derivative of شرف (sharufa) meaning "to be noble, to be illustrious". This was a title used by the descendants of Muhammad.

Sher m Urdu, Pashto
Means "lion" in Persian. A famous bearer of this name was Sher Shah, a 16th-century Mughal ruler.

Shereen f Persian
Alternate transcription of Persian شیرین (see Shirin).

Shideh f Persian
Means "bright" in Persian.

Shir 2 m Persian (Rare)
Modern Persian form of Sher.

Shireen f Persian
Alternate transcription of Persian شیرین (see Shirin).

Shirin f Persian
Means "sweet" in Persian. This was the name of a character in Persian and Turkish legend.

Shiva 2 f Persian
Means "charming, eloquent" in Persian.

Shohre f Persian
Alternate transcription of Persian شهره (see Shohreh).

Shohreh f Persian
Means "famous" in Persian.

Shokoufeh f Persian
Means "blossom" in Persian.

Shokufeh f Persian
Alternate transcription of Persian شکوفه (see Shokoufeh).

Siavash m Persian, Persian Mythology
Persian form of Avestan 𐬯𐬌𐬌𐬁𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬭𐬱𐬀𐬥 (Siiāuuarshan) meaning "possessing black stallions". This was the name of a virtuous prince in Iranian mythology. He appears briefly in the Avesta, with a longer account recorded in the 10th-century Persian epic the Shahnameh.

Siavush m Persian
Alternate transcription of Persian سیاوش (see Siavash).

Sikandar m Urdu, Pashto
Urdu and Pashto form of Alexander.

Sima 1 f Persian
Means "face, visage" in Persian.

Simin f Persian
Means "silvery" in Persian.

Sina m Persian
From the Persian name for Mount Sinai or the Sinai Peninsula.

Soheil m Persian
Persian form of Suhail.

Soheila f Persian
Persian feminine form of Suhail.

Sohrab m Persian, Persian Mythology
From Persian سهر (sohr) meaning "red" and آب (āb) meaning "water". In the 10th-century Persian epic the Shahnameh this is the name of the son of the hero Rostam. He was tragically slain in battle by his father, who was unaware he was fighting his own son.

Solmaz f Turkish, Azerbaijani, Persian
Means "unfading, unwilting" in Turkish and Azerbaijani, a negative form of the Turkic root sol "to fade, to wilt".

Somayeh f Persian
Persian form of Sumayya.

Soodeh f Persian
Alternate transcription of Persian سوده (see Soudeh).

Soraya f Persian, Spanish, French, Portuguese (Brazilian)
Persian form of Thurayya. It became popular in some parts of Europe because of the fame of Princess Soraya (1932-2001), wife of the last Shah of Iran, who became a European socialite.

Soroush m Persian Mythology, Persian
Modern Persian form of Avestan 𐬯𐬭𐬀𐬊𐬱𐬀 (Sraosha) meaning "obedience". In Zoroastrianism this was the name of a Yazata (a holy being), later equated with the angel Gabriel.

Soudeh f Persian
Means "touched" or "painted" in Persian.

Taher m Persian, Arabic
Persian form of Tahir, as well as an alternate Arabic transcription.

Tahereh f Persian
Persian feminine form of Tahir.

Tahmasb m Persian
Modern Persian transcription of Tahmasp.

Tahmasp m Persian (Archaic)
From Persian تهم (tahm) meaning "brave, valiant" and اسب (asb) meaning "horse". This name was borne by two Safavid shahs of Persia (16th and 18th centuries).

Tahmineh f Persian
Modern Persian form of Tahmina.

Tayebeh f Persian
Persian feminine form of Tayyib.

Vahid m Persian, Azerbaijani
Persian and Azerbaijani form of Wahid.

Vida 3 f Persian
Means "visible" in Persian.

Yahya m Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Indonesian, Malay
Arabic form of Yoḥanan (see John) appearing in the Quran, as well as the Turkish and Persian form. This name honours John the Baptist, a prophet in Islam.

Yama 2 m Pashto
Pashto form of Jam.

Yasaman f Persian
Variant of Yasamin.

Yasamin f Persian
Persian form of Yasmin.

Yaser m Persian, Turkish, Arabic
Persian and Turkish form of Yasir, as well as an alternate transcription of the Arabic name.

Yasin m Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Turkish
From the Arabic letters ي (called ya) and س (called sin). These letters begin the 36th chapter of the Quran (surah Ya Sin).

Yasser m Arabic, Persian
Alternate transcription of Arabic ياسر (see Yasir) or Persian یاسر (see Yaser).

Yazdan m Persian
Means "angel, divinity, saint" in Persian.

Younes m Arabic (Maghrebi), Persian
North African and Persian form of Yunus.

Yousef m Persian, Arabic
Persian form of Yusuf, as well as an alternate Arabic transcription.

Yusef m Persian, Arabic
Alternate transcription of Persian یوسف (see Yousef) or Arabic يوسف (see Yusuf).

Yusuf m Arabic, Turkish, Indonesian, Pashto, Tajik, Uzbek, Bengali
Arabic form of Yosef (see Joseph) appearing in the Quran. This is also the form used in several other languages.

Zahir m Arabic, Persian, Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali
Means "helper, supporter" in Arabic, related to ظهر (ẓahara) meaning "to be visible, to be clear". This can also be an alternate transcription of Arabic زاهر (see Zaahir 1) or ظاهر (see Zaahir 2).

Zahra 1 f Arabic, Persian
From Arabic زهراء (zahrāʾ), the feminine form of أزهر (ʾazhar) meaning "shining, brilliant, bright". This is an epithet of the Prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatima.... [more]

Zartosht m Persian
Modern Persian form of Zarathustra.

Zeinab f Persian
Persian form of Zaynab.

Zeynab f Persian, Azerbaijani
Alternate transcription of Persian زینب (see Zeinab) or Azerbaijani Zeynəb.

Zhaleh f Persian
Means "dew" or "hoarfrost" in Persian.

Zhubin m Persian (Rare)
Possibly a variant of چوبین (see Chobin).

Ziaeddin m Persian
Persian form of Ziya ad-Din.

Ziba 1 f Persian
Means "beautiful" in Persian.

Zinat f Persian, Bengali
Means "ornament" in Persian (of Arabic origin).

Zohreh f Persian
Means "Venus (planet)" in Persian, borrowed from Arabic الزهرة (al-Zuhara), derived from the root زهر (zahara) meaning "to shine".