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bosom of the waters by ~my-daroga on deviantART

We all know that Leroux never gave his Persian a name. Erik calls him "daroga," the Opera personnel call him "the Persian," and by giving him a chunk of the narrative to tell himself, Leroux sidestepped the issue entirely.

When Kay got a hold of him, "The Persian" became "Nadir Khan." Let's look at the last name first. "Khan" is, in fact, a title, not a name. As a name (of sorts) it was made most famous by Genghis Khan, whose true title was Khagan or "Khan of khans," rather like "King of kings." Variants of this title were used throughout Asia: in Persia, Khanzada, Khatun, and Khanum were all used for various people of rank. Further,

In imperial Persia, Khan (female form Khanum) was the title of a nobleman, higher than Beg (or bey) and usually used after the given name. At the Qajar court, precedence for those not belonging to the dynasty was mainly structured in eitht classes, each being granted an honorary rank title, the fourth of which was Khan... Like many titles, the meaning of the term has also extended downwards, until in Persia and Afghanistan it has become an affix to the name of any Muslim gentleman, like Effendi in Osmanli, Esquire in English. (wikipedia)

It is likely that Susan Kay took Khan as her Persian's last name based on this passage in Leroux:
As a member of the Royal House, however, he continued to receive a monthly pension of a few hundred francs from the Persian treasury.
As an unspecified member of the ruling class, Khan might have appeared an acceptable title to Kay, explained perhaps by Khan choosing it when required to make a Westernized name for himself. This is not unprecedented, as a list of people with the surname Khan would suggest.

"Nadir," at first glance, seems problematic as well. In English, of course, a nadir is the lowest point. However, in many Middle Eastern languages nadir or nader means rare or unique. According to various online dictionaries, the mathematical term comes from the Arabic word "nazir," for "opposite." This implies, to me anyway, that Kay intended both meanings to stand: Erik's only friend is both his opposite (or conscience) and a unique individual in his own right. Amusing, however, given his choice of last name, which was rather like naming yourself "sir."

But what do you think about the Persian's name? If you've written about him, what have you used to designate the character? How do you feel about writers appropriating Kay's formulation for their own fiction? Do you have your own pet names for our favorite green-eyed busybody? Or do you enjoy the mystery of his nameless presence? Did he, in fact, encourage his identity as merely "the Persian"?