Whit Rodmena means

In ilka-day Persian, rūd (رود) is a burn or river. Classical Persian forbye uses the word for the thrum or thred o a lute, for a sang, an for a wean. Steingass’s Persian-English dictionary lists “a son or dochter; a comely an amiable youth”, an the Persian dictionaries o Dehkhoda, Moein an Amid define it as a wean, son or dochter.^[1][2]

The same word names Rudāba (رودابه), princess o Kabul in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, the Persian epic completit aboot 1010. She mairriet Zāl an becam the mither o Rostam, the epic’s greatest hero. Her name is read as rūd, “child”, an āb, “radiance”: the shinin child.^[4]

Pit side by side, the twa words read as ane eemage o a cherished bairn unner the azure lift. Thon eemage is the literal meanin o Rodmena.

As a gien name, Rudmina (رودمینا) kens in Iranian lists o lassies’ names wi the meanin “princess”, shāhzādeh. Cause the lists are a popular namin tradeetion an cite nae dictionary, we gie thon meanin as the tradeetion gies it. Its echo in leeteratur is Rudāba, the shinin wean wha wis a princess o Kabul.^[4]

The Greeks caa'd the Iranians Persai. Herodotus tells how they cam by the name: Perseus mairriet Andromeda, their son wis Perses, an "it wis frae this Perses that the Persians took their name". He forby records that the Persians caa'd theirsels Artaei.^[5]

The story is a Greek legend. The name comes frae Pārsa, the Auld Persie name o the fowk o Cyrus the Great an o thair hameland in the sooth-wast, the day's province o Fārs.^[6]

Iranians hae aye caa'd thair kintra Iran (ایران), frae the Middle Persian Ērān, biggit on the auld name Iranians uised for thaimsels. In 1935 the government askit foreign governments tae uise “Iran” in offeecial correspondence, an in 1959 it confirmed that baith names micht be uised.^[6]

Throuoot this site we say Iran an Iranian fur the kintra an its fowk, the names they uise fur themsels, an Persian fur the leid, Fārsi, an its leeterature.