| Kourosh | |
| Pronunciation: | in Persian kuːˈɾoʃ/ |
| Gender: | Male |
| Region: | Iran |
| Related Names: | Cyrus |
Kourosh (Persian: کوروش; also spelled as Koorosh or Kurosh), also spelt Koroush, is a Persian male name common in Iran. Kourosh is composed of kouro- [sun] + -sh - [proprietorial suffix], meaning "Lord of the sun".
It was the throne name of Cyrus the Great and some other kings of the Achaemenid dynasty, historically translated into English and Latin as "Cyrus".
The name Cyrus is a Latinized form derived from the Greek Κῦρος, Kỹros, itself from the Old Persian Kūruš.[1] The name and its meaning has been recorded in ancient inscriptions in different languages. The ancient Greek historians Ctesias and Plutarch noted that Cyrus was named from Kuros, the Sun, a concept which has been interpreted as meaning "like the Sun" (Khurvash) by noting its relation to the Persian noun for sun, khouro, while using -sh as a proprietorial suffix.[2] This may also point to a relationship to the mythological "first king" of Persia, Jamshid, whose name also incorporates the element "sun" ("shid").
Karl Hoffmann has suggested a translation based on the meaning of an Indo-European-root "to humiliate" and accordingly "Cyrus" means "humiliator of the enemy in verbal contest". In the Persian language and especially in Iran, Cyrus's name is spelled as Persian: کوروش in Persian pronounced as /kuːˈɾoʃ/. In the Bible, he is known as Koresh (Hebrew: כורש).
Notable people with the name include: