Asad (Arabic: أسد), sometimes written as Assad, is one of many Arabic male given names meaning "lion", each denoting some aspect of the animal. It is used in nicknames such as Asad Allāh one of the nicknames for Ali ibn Abi Talib.
"Assad" is the standard spelling in English, to keep the hissing 's' sound; "Asad" is the more accurate transliteration, corresponding to the Arabic spelling, and is used by scholars.
Among prominent people named Asad or "Assad" are:
Audrey Assad, an American singer-songwriter and Contemporary Christian music artist
Asadullah (disambiguation), meaning Lion of God, may refer to several people
Asad ibn Hashim, maternal grandfather of Ali ibn Abi Talib
Asad ibn Saman, an early Samanid
Asad ibn Abd-al-Uzza, early Islamic historical figure
Khuwaylid ibn Asad, his son, father-in-law of Muhammad
Asad ibn al-Furat (759-828) a jurist and theologian
Muhammad Asad, born Leopold Weiss, influential 20th-century writer and political theorist
Talal Asad, anthropologist, son of Muhammad Asad
Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan, a famous Urdu and Persian poet of India
Clarice Assad, a classical and jazz composer, arranger, pianist, and vocalist
Asad (tribe), an Arabic Adnanite tribe cousins of Muhammad
Warqa Ibn Naufal Ibn Asad, a Muslim ancestor from the same time period as the kuffar
Asaduddin Owaisi, a politician from Hyderabad
Asad Umar, a Pakistani lawmaker and former politician
Asad Shafiq, a Pakistan Test cricketer
Mohammed Asad Ullah Sayeed, former IAS officer from Hyderabad
The Al-Assad family is an Alawite family from the Latakia region (specifically Qardaha), which has held political power in Syria since 1970. The family has produced two presidents:
Hafez al-Assad, President of Syria 1970–2000
Bashar al-Assad, current President of Syria
Other family members include:
Basil al-Assad
Rifaat al-Assad
Jamil al-Assad
Maher al-Assad
Bushra al-Assad
