Rampersad, also spelt Ramprasad or
Rampersaud, is a surname common in
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...
,
Guyana
Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...
,
Suriname
Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...
, the
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
,
Fiji
Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, and
Mauritius
Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
. The name is common among
Caribbean Hindus, but also among others as a result of ethnic mixing. It is also common among many
Christians
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...
as well. Many people of this surname have migrated to the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
as well.
Sundar Popo wrote a song called ''Rampersad''.
The name derives from the Indian name Ramprasad, which is a common name among
Bhojpuri
Bhojpuri may refer to:
* Bhojpuri language, an Indo-Aryan language of India and Nepal
* Bhojpuri grammar, grammatical rules of the language
* Bhojpuri nouns, nouns of the language
* Bhojpuri people, people who speak the language
* Bhojpuri region ...
(a
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
dialect) speaking areas of the states of
Bihar
Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
and
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...
of northern and eastern India.
Prasad in Sanskrit means refers to an offering of food given to the idol (
murti
In the Hinduism, Hindu tradition, a ''murti'' (, ) is a devotional image, such as a statue or icon, of a Hindu deities, deity or Hindu saints, saint used during ''Puja (Hinduism), puja'' and/or in other customary forms of actively expressing d ...
) of a god. Although the word is pronounced in Sanskrit as Prasad, the pronunciation changes in Bhojpuri to Parsad or Persad.
This is reflected in the Caribbean name as, from 1834 to 1917, indentured plantation workers from chiefly Bhojpur were dispersed far and wide across the world including the Caribbean, Suriname, Fiji and Mauritius. In
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
it is used as a first name, but the descendants of the indentured laborers in the
European colonies used their fathers' first name as their
surname
In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...
.
People of this given name
*
Rampersad Parasram, Trinidadian Hindu religious leader, politician and doctor
People of this surname
*
Andre Rampersad, Trinidadian footballer
*
Arnold Rampersad, Trinidadian-American academic, biographer and literary critic
*
Capil Rampersad, Trinidadian cricketer
*
Denis Rampersad, Trinidadian cricketer
*
Kris Rampersad, Trinidadian journalist, academic and activist
See Also
*
Rampersaud
References
{{Reflist
Hindu given names
Surnames
Surnames of Indian origin
Hindustani-language surnames
Surnames of Hindu origin
Indian diaspora in the Caribbean
Indo-Guyanese people
Indian diaspora in Fiji
Indian diaspora in Trinidad and Tobago
Indian diaspora in Suriname
Indian diaspora in South Africa
Indian diaspora in Mauritius
Bihari-language surnames