Muhammad tops the list of the most popular boys’ names in England and Wales for the second consecutive year, with several other Islamic names also appearing in the top 100 for both boys’ and girls’ name lists.
Muhammad outstripped every other baby name according to new figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), with 5,721 boys given the name.
Muhammad beat Noah, with over 4,000 baby boys, into second place, and Oliver, with over 3,000 came third.
In 2023, Muhammad become the most popular baby boy’s name in the UK for the first time but while “Muhammad” is the most popular overall, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) counts different spellings of the same name like Mohammed and Mohammad, as separate names, which were also raking high in the top 100.
Variations such as Mohammed came 21st with 1,760 and Mohammad came 53rd with 986.
Other Islamic origin names also made the top 100 for the boys. Yusuf came in at 68 with 762, Musa at 73 with 731 and Ibrahim at 77 with 694.
The name Yahya saw a larger increase in baby name popularity than any other male name in the top 100 in the UK compared to last years list.
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Several Islamic names did make it to the girls top 100 but not into the top 10. For example, Maryam came in at 57 with 752 and Fatima took 77 on the list with 619.
All of the Muslim names had risen in popularity since the last list. Most of the names are either names of the noble Prophets or highly revered Islamic personalities such as family members of the beloved Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
Muslims often choose names of noble personalities such as prophets in the hope that their children will emulate the characteristics of the individuals they are named after.
The growth of the Muslim community in Britain is the main reason for the rise in popularity of the name Muhammad.
Both via immigration from Muslim countries but also Muslim families typically maintain a socially conservative or “nuclear family” model of living which typically see more children born in Muslim households.
Islam places marriage, family and childbearing as highly important duties and the rewards for marriage and raising successful and religious children are plentiful in Islam.
