Persaud
Persaud is a Hindu surname, primarily found in Guyana, Suriname, Fiji, South Africa, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, and other parts of the Caribbean. It is derived from the Hindi surname प्रसाद which is predominantly transliterated as Prasad in India. Other variant forms include Persad, Persard, Pershard, Prasada, Prashad, Presad, and Presaud. The surname primarily originated in the Hindi Belt of India, especially in the present-day states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh; it also originated in the neighboring Terai-Madhesh region of Nepal. 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, based on data from the 2010 U.S. census. 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 (mainly the United Kingdom and the Netherlands).