from the 3rd-century Scytho-Sarmatian form attested in the Tanais Tablets as ???????? (Khoroáthos. Alternate forms are Khoróatos and Khoroúathos). The origin of the ethnonym is uncertain, but most probably is from Proto-Ossetian / Alanian *xurvæt- or *xurvat-, in the meaning of "one who guards" ("guardian, protector").

The oldest preserved record of