Kurdistan

The country of Kurds, Land of the Kurds

Kurd-i-stan

Kurd: The Kurds
Kurdi: Belong to the Kurds
Kurdi+stan: The lands (country) belong to the Kurds

The Kurdish people are believed to combining a number of earlier tribal or ethnic groups including Mitanni, Lullubi, Guti, Cyrtians and Carduchi.

The term Kurd is related to the Sumerian “Karda” which was found from Sumerian clay tablets of the third millennium B.C. and academic sources consider Corduene as proto-Kurdish and following names were used when referring the Kurds and Kurdistan in history: Cordyaei, Gordyaei, Karduchoi, Cordueni, Gordyeni, Guti, Kordyoui, Karduchi, Kardueni, Qardu, Kardaye, Qardawaye, Cyrtians, Kyrtians, Cyrtii, Cadusii, Amardi (or "Mardi"), Mardastan, Mardpetakan, Mardian, Mards, Tapyri, Medes, Mādāya, Medoi, Medi, Krak, Ekrad, Ard Al Akrad, Arz ul Akrad, Ekradiyyun, Akradiyyun, Al Kurdi, Kord, Koord, Koerd, Curd, Curdistan, Koordistan.

The Persian theory claiming that the name of “Kurd” (𐭪𐭥𐭫𐭲 kwrt-), originating from "nomad; tent-dweller" is about belittling Kurdish identity. In conrast, Kurds have also associated the name of “Pers/Pars” with “to beg” and labelled it “Parsek” (beggar) and Pars (begging) to belittle Persians. Historic records show the Persian writers and authorities have always tendency of belittling neighbouring Iranian people. Therefore the Persian theory of “origin of names”, those belittling neighbouring Indo-Iranian speaking people (Azeris, Balochis, Kurds etc.) and communities can not be seen as a credible theory especially for the meaning of the name of their historic rivals such as the Kurds (Medes).

-stan from Avestan stāna “to stand”,

*stā-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning ”to stand, set down, make or be firm" with derivatives meaning "place or thing that is standing”,

Sanskrit sthā́na,
Russian стан “stan”,
Proto-Slavic *stanъ,
English stay, stand, state, estate,
Persian estān.