Who are the most famous Iranians?

There are many lists of top famous Iranians available online, but we decided to tackle this matter differently. In this episode, we help you learn about well known Iranians by playing the 'Name Game'. To do this, we describe the famous Iranians, as if we are them. So listen in and play along!

Questions we also answer in this episode

Who are the most famous contemporary Iranians?What are the names of some of the famous historical Iranians?Who are the most famous Iranian women?Which singer is the most well known Iranian singer, ever?Who is the most famous Iranian poet to have ever lived?What percentage of the Iranian government wear shiny suits?

How famous are famous Iranians?

We have one of our listeners, Olga, to thank for the inspiration for this episode. She asked us, "who are the most famous Iranians?". Naturally, any answers to this question will be subjective, but for brevity, we've highlighted a selection of famous Iranians in the show.

Famous Iranians mentioned in the show

Shirin Ebadi (1947-present) — female, Iranian lawyerMahmoud Ahmadinejad (1956-present) — male, former president of IranBijan Pakzad (1940-2011) — male, Iranian fashion designerNIMANY by Nima Behnoud (1976-present) — brand, fashionMarjane Satrapi (1969-present) — female, director and graphic novelistMohammad Reza Pahlavi, "Shah" (1919-1980) — male, last king of IranAbbas Kiarostami (1940-2016) — male, film directorAsghar Farhadi (1972-present) — male, film directorGolshifteh Farahani (1983-present) — female, actressShohreh Aghdashloo (1952-present) — female, Iranian actressAli Daei (1969-present) — male, international footballer, national coachRumi (1207-1273) — male, Iranian poetGoogoosh (1950-present) — female, Iranian singerHayedeh (1942-1990) — female, Iranian singerMahasti (1946-2007) — female, Iranian singerHafez (1315-1390) — male, Iranian poet

Which Iranians have we missed?

We'd like to put it to our audience, who are your top three famous people from Iran? Let us know in the comments below, or head over to our Twitter page to respond in the comments and start a debate.

Persian words used during the show

PersianEnglish translationsTabrizi:From the Iranian region of Tabriz, in the North West of IranHaft seen:"Seven S's", the name for the Iranian new year spreadBarbari:A type of Iranian flatbreadNorouz:The word for the Iranian New Year (occurring on the spring equinox)

Music credits: www.bensound.com, composer: Benjamin Tissot