Muhammad is No 2 in boy's names

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1890354.ece

Muhammad is now second only to Jack as the most popular name for baby
boys in Britain and is likely to rise to No 1 by next year, a study by
The Times has found. The name, if all 14 different spellings are
included, was shared by 5,991 newborn boys last year, beating Thomas
into third place, followed by Joshua and Oliver.

Scholars said that the names rise up the league table was driven
partly by the growing number of young Muslims having families, coupled
with the desire to name their child in honour of the Prophet.

Muhammad Anwar, Professor of Ethnic Relations at Warwick University,
said: Muslim parents like to have something that shows a link with
their religion or with the Prophet.

Although the official names register places the spelling Mohammed at
No 23, an analysis of the top 3,000 names provided by the Office for
National Statistics (ONS) puts Muhammad at No 2 once the 14 spellings
are taken into account. If its popularity continues  it rose by 12
per cent last year  the name will take the top spot by the end of
this year. It first entered the Top 30 in 2000.

The spelling Muhammad, like all transliterations, comes from replacing
the Arabic script with what is deemed its closest Latin equivalent.
There are many versions in Britain, depending on where the family are
from and variations in pronounciation.

Muhammad, which means one who is praiseworthy, is often given to
boys as an honorary prefix and is followed by the name by which they
are commonly known. It is regularly cited as the most common name in
the world, though there is no concrete evidence.

Mufti Abdul Barkatullah, a former imam at the Finchley mosque in
northwest London, said: Parents who name their son Muhammad believe
that the name has an effect on their personality and future
characteristics. They are saying that this boy will be of good
character.

Some people may not really understand the history of the Prophet
Muhammad and the name but they still want the association so they can
be recognised as one of his followers.

In Arab countries, the name Muhammad is said when you dont know the
name of someone. On the sub-continent, it is different: Muhammad can
be used either before or after another name.

When you get to the UK, it is essentially about translating the sound
of the Arabic into English. A nonArab Muslim would have the name
ending in -ed while an Arab Muslim would adopt the -ad ending.

Overall, Muslims account for 3 per cent of the British population,
about 1.5 million people. However, the Muslim birthrate is roughly
three times higher than the nonMuslim one.

Statistics from the ONS show that Muslim households are larger than
those headed by someone of another religion. In 2001, the average size
of a Muslim household was 3.8 people while a third contained more than
five people.

According to data from CACI Information Solutions, men who are named
Muhammad are 5½ times more likely to go on holiday in Asia and twice
as likely to live in Yorkshire than most other people.

Additionally, a man named Muhammad is most likely to be aged between
25 and 34 and to have an average salary of £25,000.

The leading name for girls born to Muslim parents in 2006 was Aisha,
in 110th place. Its meaning is wife of the Prophet or life.

How do you spell that?

The different spellings of Muhammad in 2006 and the number of
occurrences

Mohammed 2,833

Muhammad 1,422

Mohammad 920

Muhammed 358

Mohamed 354

Mohamad 29

Mahammed 18

Mohammod 13

Mahamed 12

Muhammod 9

Muhamad 7

Mohmmed 6

Mohamud 5

Mohammud 5

 Scholars and imams differ on why there are so many variants of the
name

 Some say it is the result of phonetic translations by Muslims who
moved here from abroad. Others say that it is merely down to the
personal choice of the parents

The most popular names for baby boys in 2006

1 Jack 6,928, 2 Muhammad (all spellings) 5,991, 3 Thomas 5,921, 4
Joshua 5,808, 5 Oliver 5,208, 6 Harry 5,006, 7 James 4,783, 8 William
4,327, 9 Samuel 4,320, 10 Daniel 4,303, 11 Charlie 4,178, 12 Benjamin
3,778, 13 Joseph 3,755, 14 Callum 3,517, 15 George 3,386, 16 Jake
3,353, 17 Alfie 3,194, 18 Luke 3,108,19 Matthew 3,043, 20 Ethan 3,020

Source: Office for National Statistics/ The Times

date: Wed, 06 Jun 2007 17:04:17 +0100 author: Steve Greene lid