Persaud is a Hindu surname, primarily found in Guyana,

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

, Fiji,

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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 incl ...

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 List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, small ...

, 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 languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

surname प्रसाद which is predominantly transliterated as

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

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 th ...

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 ...

, 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 . ...

, and

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

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

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

. 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 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, 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 servin ...

Etymology and history

The name Persaud means "Gracious gift" originally deriving from Hindi "Prasad". The name has connection to multiple

Dharmic religions Indian religions, sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. These religions, which include Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism,Adams, C. J."Classification of ...

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 Indo-Caribbeans or Indian-Caribbeans are Indian people in the Caribbean who are descendants of the Jahaji Indian indentured laborers brought by the British, Dutch, and French during the colonial era from the mid-19th century to the early 20th ...

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 enti ...

(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 Anjulie Persaud (born May 21, 1983), known as Anjulie, is a Canadian singer and songwriter who has released one self-titled album, and has collaborated with Diplo, Zedd, Boombox Cartel, Kelly Clarkson, Nicki Minaj, TheFatRat, and Benny Benassi, ...

(b. 1983), an Indo-Guyanese Canadian singer * Avinash Persaud (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 (b. 1960), an Indo-Guyanese American virologist *

Kriskal Persaud Kriskal Persaud (born c.1974 in Berbice) is a Guyanese chess player of 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 ...

(b. 1974), an Indo-Guyanese chess player *

Lakshmi Persaud Lakshmi Persaud is a Trinidad-born, British-based writer who resides in London, England. She is the author of five novels: ''Butterfly in the Wind'' (1990), ''Sastra'' (1993), ''For the Love of My Name'' (2000), ''Raise the Lanterns High'' (2004) an ...

(b. 1939), a British Indo-Trinidadian writer * Nikhil Persaud, a British poker player *

Rajendra Persaud Rajendra 'Raj' Persaud FRCPsych (born 13 May 1963) is an English consultant psychiatrist, broadcaster and author of books about psychiatry. He is known for raising public awareness of psychiatric and mental health issues in the general media, ...

(b. 1963), a British Indo-Trinidadian/Indo-Guyanese psychiatrist * Reepu Daman Persaud (1936-2013), an Indo-Guyanese former agricultural minister of Guyana *

Robert Persaud Robert Montgomery Persaud (born 9 May 1974 in Berbice, Guyana) is the Foreign Secretary of Guyana as of 17 August 2020, and a former government minister. Biography Persaud graduated Master in Business Administration from the University of West ...

(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, Be ...

(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 Ria Nutan Persad (born on June 18, 1974, in Trinidad and Tobago), also known as Ria Carlo, is a mathematician and a classical musician of Indian descent. She moved to the United States of America as a small child and was a child prodigy. She curr ...

(also known as Ria Persad Carlo) (born 1974), a Trinidad and Tobago mathematician, classical musician and model

Prashad

* Thara Prashad (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