Given name & surname
Mahmud
“one who is praiseworthy”
Mahmud is used as a given name and a surname. One Arabic interpretation is “one who is praiseworthy.”
Original Arabicمَحْمُود
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Arabic interpretation is “one who is praiseworthy.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Arabic.
How it developed
A transliteration of Arabic مَحْمُود (“praised, laudable”); its root is Arabic ح م د.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1980. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Mahmud through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 244
- 244 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2022
- 19 babies
- 2025
- 5
- #13,191 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −7%
- Steady
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 5 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 13,191 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 7.4% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 780 as a first name in 2020; 2,523 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Mahmud’s family of names
In English usage, Mahmud has a related form in Mohammed. In English usage, Mahmud has a conventional equivalent in the French form Mahmoud. In English usage, Mahmud has a related form in Mahmoud.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Mahmud has relatives in 20 languages. Lines run from its Arabic roots to each of them.
Arabicwhere Mahmud comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 12
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 3
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 14
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Mahmud
- Mahmud II30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1808–1839)1785–1839
- Mahmud I24th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1730–1754)1696–1754
- Mahmud of GhazniSultan of the Ghaznavid Empire from 998 to 1030971–1030
- Mahmud al-KashgariTurkic scholar and lexicographer1029–1073
- Nur al-Din ZengiEmir of Aleppo (1146–1174) and Damascus (1154–1174)1118–1174
- Ghazanthe seventh Ilkhan of Mongol Ilkhanate (1295–1304)1271–1304
- Qutuz3rd Sultan of the Egyptian Mamluk Sultanate (r. 1259–1260)1300–1260
- Mahmud HotakHotak ruler of Iran from 1722 to 17251697–1725
- Mahmud Shevket Pasha212nd Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (1856–1913)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Mahmud, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Amjad
“more glorious” · “having glory and honor”
>99% boys
Marwan
Marwan is a masculine given name from Arabic.
>99% boys
Minhaj
“method, order, way”
>99% boys
Halid
“immortal”
>99% boys
Azer
Azer is a surname from Arabic. It is used in English and Turkish.
>99% boys
Murad
Murad is a masculine given name from Ottoman Turkish, ultimately from Arabic. It is used in English, Azerbaijani, and Tausug.
>99% boys
Aoun
Aoun is a surname from French, ultimately from Arabic. It is used in English and French.
>99% boys
Abdulhamid
Abdulhamid is a masculine given name from Arabic. It is used in Hausa.
>99% boys