Etymology of the name
The name of Azerbaijan derives from Atropates, a satrap of Persia under the Achaemenid empire, who was later reinstated as the satrap of Media under Alexander of Macedonia. The original etymology of this name is thought to have its roots in the ancient Zoroastrianism, namely, in Avestan Frawardin Yasht (“Hymn to the Guardian Angels”), there is a mentioning of: âterepâtahe ashaonô fravashîm ýazamaide, which literally translates from Old Persian as “we worship the Fravashi of the holy Atare-pata”.
Atropates ruled over the region of present-day Iranian Azerbaijan. The name “Atropates” itself is the Greek translitteration of an Old-Iranian, probably Median, compounded name with the meaning “Protected by the (Holy) Fire”. The Greek name is mentioned by Diodorus Siculus and Strabo, and is continued as ādurbādagān in the Pahlavi geographical text Shahrestānihā i Erānshahr.
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Your explanation of Azerbaijan’s name for sure can not be an exact definition because there are diversity of opinions about the name “ Azerbaijan “.
But I would like to share the Azerbaijanis definition the name Azerbaijan.
According to Mir Ali Seyyidov -a prominent Azerbaijanis historian- it is impossible to make a clear definition of this name without studying history and anthropology of the Azerbaijanis people.
M.A.Seyyidov points out that ‘Azerbaijan = Azərbaycan’ is a compound name which is made up of:
Az = literarily means success and also one of the Turkish tribe’s name – This name is mentioned in Gul-Takin scripture belonging to Gok-Turks in late 7th A.D.
Er(=Ər) = literally means an individual, Human and brave man. This word is also used as a suffix ( -ər ) to make names of tribes and nations such as:
Av-ər = Avar
Xəz-ər = Xəzər (=Caspian)
Mac-ər = Macar(=Hungarian)
Qac-ər = Qacar
…
Bay(= Bəy, Böyük, …) = Literally means Powerful, Prominent, ruler and etc.
Jan(=Can, Gan,…) = This word finds variety of pronunciations and meanings due to its usage among different Turkish tribes. It could mean Father, Khan, …
Azer(=Azər) = In Turkish it means sacred, fortunate and Beautiful and happy individual. Azer(=Azər) refers to a God which people of the tribe used to worship.
According to M.A.Seyyidov’s speculation, Azerbaijan(=Azərbaycan) means: “ Az people’s powerful father” or “Az people’s sacred father”
Sorry. It seems that your Blog, isn’t supporting Azerbaijanis alphabet.
Ə = E ( In Anatolian Turkish)
You can replace ‘Ə’ letters with ‘E ‘