What does it mean to be Persian?

Question

b/cuz Persia hasn't been a country for like 300 years.

Sorry, I meant 3000 years. Forgot the extra 0.

Answer 1

Persian is the ethnicity of most of the people from Iran; as well as the language they speak, their culture, their cuisine, ... the list goes on.
Persia is still very well a country, only renamed in English to Iran - not 300 (or 3000!!) years ago, but only in the 1940s, I believe - to Iran, indicating the land to be that of the Aryans.

There is a difference between nationality and ethnicity. People from Iran are Iranians by nationality (almost all of 'em), and they are (mostly) Persian by ethnicity. It's a fine line most people fail to notice. As an example, someone from Azerbayjan (the province in Iran, not the country) is Iranian, but not necessarily Persian, they are mostly Turk by ethnicity. Some people living in the west of the country are Kurds, although still Iranian by nationality.
Also, what I have noticed is that, because of neighboring Arab countries and being located in the Middle East, many people in the Western world confuse us with Arabs (make a mental note not to make that mistake!), so we call ourselves Persian to make sure that distinction is made.

Answer 2

Persia's name change was effected in 1935, a little over 70 years ago. As late as 1979, The Government of Iran said it was proper to refer to Iran as either Iran or Persia.

Persia is separate from the Semites, a broad class that includes Arabs(Arabian peninsula), Aramaeans(roughly part of Iraq), Babylonians(roughly Iraq), Carthaginians(North Africa), Ethiopians(Ethiopian and surrounding areas), Hebrews(Roughly Israel and some southern and eastern areas) and Phoenicians(lebanese), although the Persian Empire once held many of those lands.

It became known as Persia about 2600 years ago, when the Greeks began to call it that, and kept that name until 1935.

It withstood the Islamic occupation, and really provided much of the mathematics and sciences to the Islamic world.

The name Iran, is a mistransliteration from the name of the original settlers, best transliterated as Ar'Ans, sometimes called Aryans. Iraq, on the other hand, came from the sumerian words Ur Uk. or city of Uk. Iraqis are not Persians, as a general rule, although there is some shared heritage.

If you do not speak the language it is appropriate to refer to the language of Iran as Persian, but if you do speak the language, it is appropriate to refer to it as Farsi.

Persians are not arabs. Their roots are with the Aryans, and probably immigrated from Big India, before they went back to attack Big India. The Persian language and the Hindi language both have Sanskrit roots rather than Arabic, although Iran has picked up a number of words from the Islamic invasion, since about 632 CE.

The Persians were exhausted from long battles with first the Greeks and then the Romans, when the Arabic forces won a defining battle in 632. Persia has always kept a separate identity from Arabs, and still does to this day, although they will ally with them for various reasons.


Persian Empire did include parts of Russia, Azerbaijan, and some other nearby areas that became part of the Soviet Union.

Answer 3

A lot of people refer to themselves as Persian for different reasons. some dont like the negativity that the Iranian label would bring to them especially living in the U.S. Others also want to stick to the rich culture from which they came from and seperate themselves from this Iranian label which also inludes, kurds, arabs, and so on. ;

Answer 4

It means you are from the Persian Gulf, or had family or relatives from there. I think it pertains to the area of Iraq/Iran.

Answer 5

Persians fled to Iran b/c of genocide. They used to be in Russia.

Answer 6

Missing a word. Years ago if we were sweet on a gal we use to call them our Persian Kitten. Soft as a cuddly kitten.

Answer 7

Iranians....read your history books!!!!

Iran was once Persia!

Answer 8

It means you are a gorgeous, furry, flat faced kitty. So cute!