Last updated: March 2026

Character Name

Sohrab

Meaning — From Old Persian or Middle Persian, possibly meaning "red water" or "brilliant red" (from "sūr" meaning red/brilliant and "āb" meaning water). Sohrab is the tragic son of Rostam in the Shahnameh — a young hero of extraordinary bravery who travels to find his father, only to meet him in single combat, where neither recognizes the other until Sohrab is mortally wounded.·Persian origin·Male·SOH-rahb

Sohrab Sohrab carries one of literature's most heartbreaking resonances — the young man of exceptional promise destroyed by the very blindness of the father he sought. Characters named Sohrab are often idealistic young heroes whose greatness is not in question, but whose tragedy lies in the structural forces they cannot overcome in time.

Best genres for Sohrab

MythologyHistorical FictionFantasyLiterary Fiction

Famous characters named Sohrab

Sohrab

Shahnameh (Book of Kings) Ferdowsi

The son of Rostam who journeys to find his famous father, tragically killed by him in single combat in one of world literature's most devastating recognitions.


Variations & nicknames

SohrabSuhrobSūhrāb

Pairs well with

Sohrab ShiraziSohrab TehraniSohrab EsfahaniSohrab HosseiniSohrab MoradiSohrab Rashidian

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Related names

Rostam

Persian · “Derived from Old Iranian "Raodhastakhma" meaning "with a strong body" or "stout as a bull", rooted in Avestan words for strength and might. Rostam is the greatest hero of the Persian national epic, the Shahnameh (Book of Kings) by Ferdowsi, whose seven labors (Haft Khan) and tragic killing of his own son Sohrab are among the most dramatic episodes in world literature.

Kaveh

Persian · “From Avestan "Kavi" or Old Persian "Kāva", relating to the ancient priestly-royal caste of seers in Iranian tradition. In the Shahnameh, Kaveh the Blacksmith is the heroic commoner who rises against the serpent tyrant Zahhak and whose leather apron, raised as a standard, becomes the legendary Derafsh Kaviani — the royal banner of Persia for over a thousand years.

Siavash

Persian · “From Avestan "Syāvarshān" or Middle Persian "Syāwaxsh", meaning "owner of the black stallion" or "black stallion" — combining "siyāh" (black) and "asp" (horse). Siavash is one of the most beloved and tragic figures in the Shahnameh: a prince of exceptional purity and beauty who is falsely accused by his stepmother and seeks exile, only to be murdered in a foreign land.

Zal

Persian · “From the Persian "Zāl", meaning the white-haired or albino one — Zal was born with snow-white hair, considered an ill omen in ancient Iran, which caused his father Sam to abandon him on a mountaintop, where the mythical bird Simurgh raised him. Zal becomes a great hero and the father of the legendary Rostam, his unusual appearance a marker of the extraordinary destiny that sets him apart from ordinary men.


More Persian names

Firdaus

From the Persian "firdaws" meaning paradise or garden of paradise, derived from Old Iranian or possibly Avestan roots — the word passed into Arabic and then into the English word "paradise" via Greek "paradeisos". Firdausi (Abu'l-Qasim Ferdowsi) was the great 10th–11th century Persian epic poet who composed the Shahnameh, spending thirty years on his masterwork.

Leila

The Persian form of the Arabic Layla, from the root meaning night, conveying dark beauty, mystery, and longing. In Persian Sufi poetry, Leila represents the divine beloved — the soul's yearning for union with God is expressed as the madman Majnun's endless, hopeless love for Leila.

Scheherazade

From Persian "Shahrazad", compounded from "shahr" (city) and "azad" (free, noble-born), meaning "city-born" or "of noble urban lineage". Some scholars derive "shahr" from Old Persian meaning "wide kingdom", giving the meaning "of the wide realm". Shahrazad is the iconic frame narrator of One Thousand and One Nights, who saves her life by telling stories night after night.

Nasrin

From the Persian word "nasrīn" meaning wild rose or eglantine, referring to the delicate climbing rose that grows in Persian gardens and has been celebrated in Persian poetry for its beauty and fragrance since antiquity. The wild rose is a central symbol of beauty, love, and transience in the Persian poetic tradition.

Bahram

From Avestan "Verethragna", the Zoroastrian deity of victory and the personification of martial triumph, whose name passed through Middle Persian as "Wahram" and then "Bahram". Bahram is a name of kings and heroes in the Shahnameh, most notably Bahram Gur, the legendary Sassanid king celebrated for his hunting prowess and love of poetry.

Farrukh

From Old Persian and Avestan "farrux" meaning auspicious, fortunate, or of good omen — related to the Persian "farr" (divine glory, royal splendor, the sacred fire of kingship). The name conveys the blessing of divine fortune and a life lived under favorable celestial omens.


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