Golshifteh is from the Persian گلشیفته — gol (flower) + shifteh (bewitched, enchanted). A modern American baby name in the broader Persian heritage aesthetic. Golshifteh Farahani (گلشیفته فراهانی, born 1983) is an Iranian-French actress and singer — widely considered the foundational Iranian actress in Western cinema. Started at age 14 in The Pear Tree (1998, dir. Dariush Mehrjui — Iranian New Wave). Hollywood breakthrough in Body of Lies (2008, Ridley Scott opposite Leonardo DiCaprio + Russell Crowe) — making her the foundational first Iranian actress in a major Hollywood film since the 1979 Revolution. Subsequent foundational films: About Elly (2009, Asghar Farhadi), Paterson (2016, Jim Jarmusch opposite Adam Driver), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017), Extraction (2020 + 2023, Netflix opposite Chris Hemsworth), and The Old Guard (2020 + 2025, Netflix). Banned from Iran since 2008 over Western roles + 2012 Madame Figaro nude shoot.
Featured throughout Persian heritage and Western cinema.
Golshifteh reduces to one.