Mehrdad

Mehrdad (Persian: مهرداد‎‎;  [mɛhrdɑːd] ) is a common Persian male given name in Iran and Azerbaijan. It means "Gift of Love", "Sun of Justice" or "Gift of Sun". In Persian language "Mehr" means Sun or Love and "Dâd" means Justice or Given. 'Mehrdad' is a historical Persian name that derives from Middle Persian Mithridates, a theophoric name meaning "Given by Mehr." 'Mehr' in turn derives from Avestan Mithra, the Zoroastrian divinity and hypostasis of covenant.

In present-day Iran, the name Mehrdad is also retroactively applied to several historic figures that appear in western literature as Mithridates, a hellenized or philhellenic form of the Old Iranian name.