Given name & surname
Sayyid
“the master”
Sayyid is used as a given name and a surname. One Arabic interpretation is “the master.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Arabic interpretation is “the master.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Arabic.
How it developed
From Arabic سَيِّد (“Master, Lord, the nobleman”); its root is Arabic س و د.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1990. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Sayyid through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 166
- 166 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2025
- 14 babies
- 2025
- 14
- #6,391 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −4%
- Steady
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 14 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 6,391 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 170 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Sayyid’s family of names
In English usage, Sayyid has a related form in Syed. In English usage, Sayyid has a related form in Said. In English usage, Sayyid has a related form in Sayed.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 13
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 3
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Sayyid
- Mojtaba Khamenei3rd Supreme Leader of Iran since 2026born 1969
- Sayyid QutbEgyptian political theorist and revolutionary (1906–1966)
- Sayed DarwishEgyptian musician and composer (1892–1923)
- Sayyid Mumtaz AliIndian author and publisher1860–1935
- Sayyid Al-QemanyEgyptian writer (1947–2022)
- Sayyid Jamal al-Din Va'izIranian journalist1862–1908
- Sayid Abdulloh NuriTajikistani politician (1947–2006)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Sayyid, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Asil
Asil is a masculine given name from Ottoman Turkish, ultimately from Arabic. It is used in Turkish.
87% boys · 13% girls
Saifullah
Saifullah is a masculine given name from Arabic. It is used in Indonesian.
>99% boys
Sardar
Sardar is a surname from Persian.
>99% boys
Abdulhamid
Abdulhamid is a masculine given name from Arabic. It is used in Hausa.
>99% boys
Sufyan
Sufyan is a masculine given name from Arabic.
>99% boys
Halid
“immortal”
>99% boys
Amjad
“more glorious” · “having glory and honor”
>99% boys
Zeyn
Zeyn is a masculine given name from Arabic. It is used in Azerbaijani.
>99% boys