Saridan

This is the name of a king in the 12th-century epic poem The Knight in the Panther's Skin written by the Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli (1172-1216). He was the father of the titular knight of the poem, namely prince Tariel of India.

Sources state that the name is of Persian origin, which is hardly surprising, given that virtually all characters in Rustaveli's poem bear names of Persian origin. It is, however, unclear from which Persian root Rustaveli derived the name from. He may have derived it from Middle Persian srūdan meaning "to sing" as well as "to recite" - the modern Persian equivalent is سرودن (sorudan). An other possible derivation might be Middle Persian srāyīdan meaning "to protect". Either way, whatever the meaning is, it seems that the name Saridan never really caught on with the Georgian people; throughout the centuries, few parents were inspired to name their son Saridan. That is in sharp contrast to other names that originated from Rustaveli's poem, such as Avtandil, Darejan and Nestan, which have long been popular and remain so today.