Encouragement of the Tajik Government to Choose Persian Names for Newborns

On Friday, April 29, a law came into effect in Tajikistan that mandates the conversion of names with Russian suffixes to Tajik and Persian names. From now on, newborns will have Persian and Tajik names. In an interview with Sajida Jafarova, head of the Tajik section of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, we examined the details of this law. Sajida Jafarova states that the new law applies to newborns, while adults can retain Russian suffixes in their names. However, when they intend to renew their passports or other identification documents, they are offered the option to remove the Russian suffix if they wish. Sajida Jafarova mentions that about 10 years ago, the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, removed the Russian suffix from his name, becoming Emomali Rahmon, and following this decision, first the cabinet members, then department heads, and finally government employees removed all Russian suffixes from their names. The head of the Tajik section of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty tells Radio Farda that the reason for Emomali Rahmon's name change was to distance himself from the legacy of the former Soviet Union and return to the authentic Tajik roots and history of the country. Sajida Jafarova notes that although the government does not explicitly state its dissatisfaction with Arabic names, it effectively encourages people to use authentic Tajik and Persian names such as Parviz, Kiumars, Kianush, Farzaneh, Sosan, Saman, Jamshid, Khorshid, etc., for their children. According to Ms. Jafarova, the Tajik government has prepared a list of Tajik and Persian names that will be made available to the public for selecting their children's names.