Frequency: (442)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic ῾eid ‘festivity’. The two principal religious festivals observed by Muslims are ῾Eidul Fitr and ῾Eidul Aḍḥā. ῾Eidul Fitr is observed after completion of fasting in Ramadan, ῾Eidul Aḍḥā is observed as a day of sacrifice commemorating the example of the Prophet Ibrahim, or after completion of the Hajj. Eid is sometimes used as part of the name of a child born on one of these two feast days.
2. Norwegian: habitational name from any of several farmsteads so named, from Old Norse eið ‘isthmus’ (see Eide).
3. Perhaps an Americanized spelling of German Eidt.
GIVEN NAMES: Muslim 36%; French 5%. Ahmed (4), Eid (3), Hassan (3), Mohammed (3), Amin (2), Diab (2), Fouad (2), Ghassan (2), Mohamed (2), Mounir (2), Omar (2), Riad (2); Michel (2), Alain, Andre, Antoine, Emile, Francois, Georges, Jean Michel, Lucien, Pierre.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
