Notes on the Bactrian Personal Name Σανδο

In his book devoted to Bactrian personal names, sub voce , Sims-Williams (2010: 124) does not make any etymological hypothesis and merely excludes a possible connection with PIr. *sanda- will . The new etymological hypothesis proposed in this paper assumes that the Bactrian personal name is the reflex of an Old Iranian *Sandu- from the Old Iranian root *sand- to appear, seem (good) . The form *Sandu- could be considered a nominalization of the inherited Old- Iranian adjective with u-stem *sandu- (< IIr. s ándu-), comparable with Old Persian (u-) andu- (well) pleased , Vedic chándu- pleasant . This hypothesis is supported by the fact that other Iranian personal names may be based on the stem *Sandu-. Indeed this stem is attested as a loanword in Greek discussed by Rüdiger Schmitt (2011: 317-319). The Greek (Hdt 7, 194, 1-3) has been interpreted as Old Iranian *Sandu-ka- (or Old-Persian * andu-ka-).