Why didn’t Iran keep the more appropriate historical name Persia?

Because Persia is actually not our historical name. The last 2 Shahs of Iran were cultural nationalists who wanted to restore our ancient heritage. The word Persia comes from “Persis” or “Parsa”, A Greek word meaning “land of the Persians”. Persis was also the name of an ancient province.

Iran is our historical name, coming from the word “Eran” in ancient Parsik also known as Middle Persian. The earliest usage of the word “Iran” can be found at Naqsh E Rostam, an archaeological site in Persepolis, the ancient capital of the Achaemenids. 4 great Kings of the Achaemenid empire are also buried here. It is here that we found some of the first uses of the words “Iran”, “Aryan” and “Iranian”.

 Now there are words predating “Iran” specifically. Such as “Aryanam” who’s usage is recorded in the “Avesta” a collection of ancient Zoroastrian religious texts written in Avestan.

 The word Persia however gradually took root and was widely used by the international community until the last century. In 1935, Reza Shah officially changed the name back to “Iran” and asked the world community to use “Iran” henceforth. Surprisingly, there was actually a lot of controversy over the move and the act was repealed. But most modern states have referred to us as Iran ever since.