The name Afghānistān means "land of the Afghans", the name "Afghan" originally referred to a member of the Pashtuns. which originates from the ethnonym Afghan. Historically, Pashtuns were referred to as Afghans, the largest ethnic group of Afghanistan. The earliest reference to the name is found in the 10th-century geography book known as Hudud al-'Alam. The last part of the name, -stān is a Persian suffix for "place".
The Afghan Lodi dynasty of North India
A Lithography collection made by James Rattray in the early 1800s shows the name Afghaunistan on the front cover.
The ethnonym Afghan has been used historically to refer to the Pashtuns. Since the second half of the twentieth century, the term "Afghan" evolved into a demonym for all residents of Afghanistan, including those outside of the Pashtun ethnicity.
Bactrian document in the Greek script from the 4th century mentioning the word Afghan (αβγανανο): "From Ormuzd Bunukan to Bredag Watanan, the chief of the Afghans."