Khosrow is the
Modern Persian variant. The word ultimately comes from
Proto-Iranian *
Hu-sravah ("with good reputation"), itself ultimately from
Proto-Indo-European *
h₁su- ("good") + *
ḱléwos ("fame"). The name has been attested in
Avesta as
Haosravangha ( ) and
Haosravah (
Haosrauuah), as the name of the legendary Iranian king
Kay Khosrow. This is the oldest attestation. The name was used by various rulers of
Parthian Empire. In
Parthian-language inscriptions, it is spelled as
hwsrw (), which may be variously
transcribed and pronounced. The
Latin form was or . The
Old Armenian form was
Khosrov (), derived from Parthian, and was held by several rulers of the
Arsacid dynasty of Armenia. The name is still used in
modern Armenian. Notable as to the use of
Khosrow as a title is the father of
Mirian III of Iberia who was known as ''k'asre'' (
Old Georgian). This led to confusion, as some historians thought that Mirian III must therefore be the son of a
Sasanian ruler, and not a
Parthian one. The name was notably used by several rulers of
Sassanian Empire. In their native language,
Middle Persian, the name has been spelt variously as hwslwb (
Book Pahlavi script: ), hwslwb', hwsrwb, hwslwd, and hwsrwd' in
Pahlavi scripts. The name has been variously transliterated as follows:
Husrō,
Husrōy,
Xusro,
Khusro,
Husrav,
Husraw,
Khusrau,
Khusraw,
Khusrav,
Xusraw,
Xusrow,
Xosrow,
Xosro.* The
Greek form was
Khosróēs () and the
Latin form was and . The Middle Persian word also means "famous" or "of good repute". The
New Persian variant is , which can be transliterated as
Khusraw,
Khusrau,
Khusrav,
Khusru (based on the Classical Persian pronunciation ), or
Khosrow,
Khosro (based on the modern
Iranian Persian pronunciations and ). In New Persian the name also became a common noun meaning '(great) king'. The word was borrowed into
Arabic as
Kisrā or
Kasrā (), a variant which come to be used in
New Persian () as well. In
Islamic Persia,
kisrā became a strong byword for tyrannical pagan kingship, and is used as a general shorthand for Sassanian rulers (hence also
Taq-e Kasra, literally "Arc of Kasra"), as
pharaoh is used for pre-Islamic Egyptian rulers. The
Turkish variant is , derived from
Ottoman Turkish (), itself from
New Persian. The
Bengali variant of the word is . == Iranian rulers ==