Persaud is a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

surname, primarily found in Guyana, Suriname, Fiji,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, and other parts of the Caribbean. It is derived from the

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

surname प्रसाद which is predominantly transliterated as

Prasad 200px, Prasad thaal offered to Swaminarayan temple in Ahmedabad ">Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Ahmedabad">Swaminarayan temple in Ahmedabad Prasada (, Sanskrit: प्रसाद, ), Prasadam or Prasad is a religious offering in Hinduism. Most o ...

in India. Other variant forms include Persad, Persard, Pershard, Prasada, Prashad, Presad, and Presaud. The surname primarily originated in the

Hindi Belt The Hindi Belt, also known as the Hindi Heartland, is a linguistic region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern and western India where various Central Indo-Aryan languages subsumed under the term 'Hindi' (for example, by the ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, especially in the present-day states of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . I ...

, and

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

; it also originated in the neighboring Terai-Madhesh region of

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

. Persaud is the most prevalent surname in Guyana with 21,855 Guyanese persons documented to hold the name. It is the 22nd most prevalent name in Suriname. Persad is also the sixteenth most prevalent surname in Trinidad and Tobago and the other variant, Persaud, is the 431st most prevalent surname. Persaud is also the number one most popular Hindu surname in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, based on data from the

2010 U.S. census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...

Etymology and history

The name Persaud means "Gracious gift" originally deriving from Hindi "Prasad". The name has connection to multiple Dharmic religions including Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism where "Prasada" is a food that is used in religious offering.

Geographical distribution

Persaud is the most common surname in Guyana, where 1 in 35 persons hold the surname; it is also an increasingly common name in Canada, ranking 862nd, and the UK where 1 in 52,000 hold the surname. This is due to a large amount of Indo-Caribbean immigration to North America and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

(mainly the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Notable people named Persaud

Persaud

* Anjulie Persaud (b. 1983), an Indo-Guyanese Canadian singer *

Avinash Persaud Avinash D. Persaud born 22 June 1966 in Barbados, West Indies) is Emeritus Professor of Gresham College in the UK. He was Chairman of Intelligence Capital Ltd., a company specializing in analyzing, managing and creating financial liquidity in in ...

(b. 1966), an Indo-Bajan businessman * Bernadette Indira Persaud (b. 1946), Indo-Guyanese painter * Bishnodat Persaud (1933-2016), a British Indo-Guyanese economist *

Deborah Persaud Deborah Persaud (born 23 August 1960) is a Guyanese-born American virologist who primarily works on HIV/AIDS at Johns Hopkins Children's Center. Biography Persaud was born on 23 August 1960 in Port Mourant, East Berbice-Corentyne, Guyana. At a ...

(b. 1960), an Indo-Guyanese American virologist * Kriskal Persaud (b. 1974), an Indo-Guyanese chess player * Lakshmi Persaud (b. 1939), a British Indo-Trinidadian writer * Nikhil Persaud, a British poker player * Rajendra Persaud (b. 1963), a British Indo-Trinidadian/Indo-Guyanese psychiatrist *

Reepu Daman Persaud Pt. Reepu Daman Persaud (c. 1936, 6 April 2013) was a Guyanese politician and Hindu pandit from the People's Progressive Party/Civic. He was elected to the Parliament consecutively from 1964 to 2006. He served a member of cabinet between 1992 ...

(1936-2013), an Indo-Guyanese former agricultural minister of Guyana * Robert Persaud (b. 1974), Guyanese Foreign Secretary and former minister *

Roxanne Persaud Roxanne Persaud (born March 1, 1966) is a Guyanese-American politician. She is a Democrat and a member of the New York Senate for the 19th district, which includes portions of Canarsie, East New York, Brownsville, Mill Basin, Sheepshead Bay, ...

(b. 1966), Indian-African Guyanese American politician * Shanta Persaud, diabetes researcher and academic

Persad

Kamla Persad-Bissessar Kamla Persad-Bissessar ( ; born Kamla Susheila Persad, 22 April 1952), often referred to by her initials KPB, is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian lawyer, politician and educator who is the Leader of the Opposition of Trinidad and Tobago, politic ...

(b. 1952), first woman to be Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago * Ria Persad (also known as Ria Persad Carlo) (born 1974), a Trinidad and Tobago mathematician, classical musician and model

Prashad

Thara Prashad Thara Natalie Prashad (born January 16, 1982), also known as Thara, is an American R&B singer and model. Her father is Indo-Guyanese while her mother is part Irish and part African-American. Formerly signed to the Desert Storm label most known f ...

(born 1982) - singer and model

References

{{surname Indian surnames Surnames of Indian origin Hindustani-language surnames Hindu surnames Indo-Caribbean Indian diaspora in Fiji Indo-Guyanese people Indian diaspora in Suriname Indian diaspora in South Africa Indian diaspora in Mauritius Indian diaspora in Trinidad and Tobago