𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁

Meaning: “shepherd, bestowed care, protector”

Of disputed origin. One theory is that it is from Elamite 𒁹𒆪𒊏𒀾 (ᵐku-ra-aš₂ /⁠kuraš⁠/, “shepherd, bestowed care, protector”); earliest cuneiform attestations of the name, even instances prior to the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, always end in /-aš/ as opposed to /-uš/, an unexplainable development for Akkadian and Elamite phonologically if the original was the Iranian /-uš/. This has suggested rather that the later, more well-known Iranian version is in fact the adaptation, perhaps brought on by the fact that Old Persian a stems never have a final /-š/ in the nominative but u stems do.