Sham Asbi (Persian: شام اسبي)[a] is a village in, and the capital of, Balghelu Rural District of the Central District of Ardabil County, Ardabil province, Iran.

[5] According to Alice Assadoorian in Iran and the Caucasus, the toponym appears to be an old compound, and thus the folk etymology "can hardly be satisfying".

[5] Assadoorian notes that the final –ī in the place name alludes to a patronymic formation, which allows for the resconstruction of the Middle Iranian form of the toponym as *Šāmaspīk or *Šāmāspīk, which translates as "a village belonging to (or founded by) *Šāmāsp".

[5] The name *Šāmāsp is a familiar personal name, and derives from Old Iranian *S(i)yāmāspa-, i.e. "(a man) having black or dark studs" (compare Avestan Syāvaspi- and Armenian Šawasp).

[5] Assadoorian argues that there was "secondary dissimilation of the initial s- to š-".