For 17 years we did not know the name of the young girl who stared so hauntingly from the cover of the June 1985 National Geographic. Now we do: It is Sharbat Gula. Her name, in the Pashto language of the Pashtun people, means sweetwater flower girl. Many women share the name Gula; it shows the love of the people for flowers.

Millions around the world have wondered who the mysterious girl was. Now she is a grown woman with girls of her own, and we can give Sharbat Gula the dignity of her name.

—Barbara McConnell