UK: Muhammad Is No 2
in Boy's Names
By Helen Nugent and Nadia Menuhin
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 name’s 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 honor 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
pronunciation.
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 recognized as one of his
followers.
“In Arab countries, the name Muhammad is said when
you don’t 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 non-Arab 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 non-Muslim 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”... (Courtesy Times)
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