The Syed surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 9,722 people carried this name — #3,657 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 30,300 people counted. That is up 83% from 5,310 in 2000.

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In Belgium’s population register

At least 259 people named Syed 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 Brussels-Capital.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they live today

Brussels-Capital 83
Antwerp 42
Flemish Brabant 41
West Flanders 27
East Flanders 22
Liège 14
Hainaut 13
Walloon Brabant 10

Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.

In Switzerland’s population statistics

216 people named Syed live in Switzerland.

They live in 13 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they live today

Zurich 65
Aargau 27
Vaud 26
Bern 23
Geneva 20
Basel-Stadt 13
Lucerne 12
Solothurn 9

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 France’s civil register

France’s register of deaths holds 30 people named Syed.

Most of them — 25 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 3 départements, most often Oise.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they were born

Born outside France 25
Oise 3
Hauts-de-Seine 1
Val-d’Oise 1

Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.

In Poland’s population register

23 people named Syed have a registered home in Poland.

Of the 160 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 6 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Podlaskie.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Podlaskie 8
Łódź 6
Pomeranian 3
Lublin 2
Lesser Poland 2
Warmian-Masurian 2

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

769 people named Syed 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

Sweden (2022) 411
Norway (2025) 302
Finland (2026) 56

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

Syed in American newspapers,
1909.

Newspaper page from The Daily Inter-mountain carrying the name Syed
The Daily Inter-mountain 1909-12-03
Newspaper page from The Evening Statesman carrying the name Syed
The Evening Statesman 1909-12-02
Newspaper page from Daily Arizona Silver Belt carrying the name Syed
Daily Arizona Silver Belt 1909-12-07

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 4 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Syed in Australian newspapers,
1870s–1980s.

239 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Syed. The most, 63, date from the 1950s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Western Australia, at 2.6 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 60
ACT (Canberra) 52
Western Australia 45
Queensland 35
Victoria 21
South Australia 16
Tasmania 7

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Syed.

Who carried it

People named Syed,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Syed Abdul Rahman Syed Ahmad d. 1881 · ruler
  • Meer Abdul Wahid Bilgrami 1509–1608 · ulema
  • Syed Abdul Wahab 1538–1630
  • Syed Shah Aale Rasool Marehrawi 1795–1879 · ulema
  • Abdul Ghafoor Shahbaz 1857–1908 · writer
  • Fasihuddin Balkhi 1885–1962 · writer

Wikidata (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Syed,
in the records of 5 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States8 records

8 records of the Syed name in the United States
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 6
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 2
  1. A U.S. Army record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864
    Example: U.S. burial record, 1864
    Burial record Mohamedali Hassonali Syed

    U.S. Navy veteran of World War II. Born 1905, died 1995; buried at Long Island National Cemetery, New York.

    U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. The receipt card sent under the U.S. Alien Registration Act of 1940
    Example: U.S. alien registration card, 1940s
    Alien registration Mustafa Syed

    Born 1898 in India. Entered the United States in 1950. Listed in the U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955.

    U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain)
  3. The receipt card sent under the U.S. Alien Registration Act of 1940
    Example: U.S. alien registration card, 1940s
    Alien registration Mohamed Syed

    Born 1899 in India. Registered as a foreign national in Saginaw, Michigan, under the Alien Registration Act of 1940.

    U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain)

Showing 3 of 8 records for Syed in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain); Alien Registration Receipt Card, Form AR-3, photo by Bobjgalindo via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).

France3 records

3 records of the Syed name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Usman Ali Syed

    Born 1978 in Pakistan; died 1998 in Angers (Maine-et-Loire).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  2. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Mukhtar Altaf Syed

    Born 1947 in Pakistan; died 1998 in Courcouronnes (Essonne).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  3. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Imran Akbar Syed

    Born 1953 in Pakistan; died 2001 in Paris.

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Australia2 records

2 records of the Syed name in Australia
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 1
  • Tasmanian Names Index 1
  1. The first page of an emigration file from Gündlingen, Baden, 1883
    Example: German emigration file, 1883
    Emigration record Belall Syed

    Left Hobart in 1857 aboard the Arabella, bound for Guam, as crew.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Civil record A. Syed

    Seaman aboard the Mutlah, Queensland in 1915.

    Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Emigration file, Gündlingen, 1883, Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Staatsarchiv Freiburg B 694/1 Nr. 1389 (CC BY 4.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Canada1 record

1 record of the Syed name in Canada City of Calgary cemetery records
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Girl Syed

    Buried in 1978 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.

Counts: City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).

United Kingdom1 record

1 record of the Syed name in the United Kingdom Scottish rolls of honour, First World War
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record R. K.- Syed

    Served in the First World War. Named in the roll of honour of New Year 1915.

    National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain)

Counts: National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Syed.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Syed 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.

See the Syed volume
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