The Mahmoud surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 3,342 people carried this name — #9,709 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 88,500 people counted. That is up 61% from 2,074 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Mahmoud surname
A surname from Arabic.
Borrowed from Arabic مَحْمُود (maḥmūd).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Mahmoud» (French), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
414 people named Mahmoud live in Switzerland.
They live in 16 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 273 people named Mahmoud live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Antwerp.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 162 people named Mahmoud.
Most of them — 119 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 17 départements, most often Paris.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 162 people named Mahmoud live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Tucumán.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In Poland’s population register
38 people named Mahmoud have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 185 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 9 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Masovian.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In the Nordic population registers
2,608 people named Mahmoud are counted in Sweden, Norway and Finland.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Norway publishes only surnames with 200 or more bearers. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Statistics Norway (SSB, ssb.no), table 12891, 2025 — CC BY 4.0 · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In print
Mahmoud in American newspapers,
1839–1936.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 7,032 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Mahmoud,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Ahmad Mahmoud 1931–2002 · writer -
Haider Mahmoud 1942– · poet -
Youssef Mahmoud 1947– · diplomat -
Awadeya Mahmoud 1963– · entrepreneur -
Khaled Saleh 1964–2014 · actor
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 88 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Mahmoud.
When the index is not enough
This page says where Mahmoud is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.