In 224 AD, Ardashir I, the local ruler of Pars, deposed and replaced Artabanus IV, the last Parthian Emperor, and founded the fourth Iranian dynasty, and the second Persian dynasty, the Sassanian Empire.
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Although several sources (e.g. al-Biruni) appear to have considered 'Arash' to be the origin of the name 'Arshak' (i.e. Arsaces), the name of the Parthian dynasty derives from a Parthian- or Eastern Iranian equivalent of 'Ardashir', i.e. 'Artaxerxes', specifically Artaxerxes II, who the Arsacids claimed to descend from.
The term derives from Middle Iranian xvatay, xwadag meaning "lord", "ruler", "master" (written as Parthian kwdy, Middle Persian kwdy, Sogdian kwdy, etc.).