Muhammad is the most typical boy’s identify in England and Wales – and has been for over a decade, evaluation suggests.
Authorities statisticians final month topped Noah prime of the charts for a second consecutive 12 months, with 4,586 boys born in 2022 given the identify popularised by Stranger Issues star Noah Schnapp.
Nonetheless, 7,362 boys – or one in each 42 – got the identify Muhammad or one among 4 separate iterations ubiquitous in Islamic tradition.
Thirty-seven completely different spellings had been registered by the Workplace for Nationwide Statistics.
Muhammad (4,177), the most typical, has seen a nine-fold rise in reputation since fashionable information started within the mid-90s.
Mohammed (1,694), in the meantime, has halved in prevalence since peaking within the late noughties.
Dr Rebecca Gregory, assistant professor in historic linguistics and onomastics on the College of Nottingham, says the disparity is as a lot geographical and cultural as it’s random.
‘Muhammad is the most typical spelling as a result of it’s a transliteration of Arabic into the English language’s Roman alphabet,’ she instructed MailOnline.
Such a spelling is essentially discovered within the areas of North Africa and the Center East.
Dr Gregory provides that Mohammed, which was once the preferred, comes from South Asian languages present in international locations resembling Pakistan however the change in why one has overtaken the opposite is more durable to determine.
‘With a number of recordings of a selected identify, folks attempt to standardise it,’ she mentioned.
‘A few of what the info present is folks deliberately utilizing what they see as a extra customary spelling so their youngsters do not run the chance of their identify being mis-pronounced or spelled.
‘It is also to do with a selected cultural background or to some extent a desire of the individual doing the identify recording.
‘If a mother or father does not have a desire on the spelling of Muhammad, the individual taking the recording would possibly simply select one.’
ONS statistics additionally present that 2024 is the one hundredth anniversary of Mohammed coming into the highest 100 boys’ names for England and Wales, debuting at 91st in 1924.
Its prevalence dropped significantly within the lead as much as and through WW2 however started to rise within the Nineteen Sixties.
That individual iteration of the identify was the one one to look within the ONS’ prime 100 information from 1924 till Mohammad joined within the early Nineteen Eighties.
Muhammad, now the preferred of the three, first broke into the highest 100 within the mid-Nineteen Eighties and has seen the quickest progress of all three iterations since.
From left to proper, Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah, double-Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah and boxing nice Muhammad Ali
Whereas there isn’t any definitive reply pointing to the recognition of the identify, rising sizes of Muslim communities throughout the UK and recognition of sporting figures resembling Mohamed (Mo) Farah, Mohamed Salah and Muhammad Ali are more likely to play their half.
A spokesperson for the ONS mentioned that the physique ‘solely gives statistics based mostly on the precise spelling and don’t group names, as some groupings are subjective and never simple.’
They added that the statistics mirror an assumption that folks make a deliberate alternative over the spelling and naming their baby in a sure method, for instance Oliver, Oliver or Olly.
If a number of spelling had been grouped underneath one umbrella identify, Theodore (eighth in 2022, 2,835) and Theo (ninth in 2022, 2,808) would even be above Noah.
That is an instance of so-called hypocoristic naming – giving a shortened first identify because the given identify.
Sophie, Sophia and Sofia would additionally soar to the highest of the charts, toppling Olivia within the women’ rankings.
When counting this manner, nevertheless, MailOnline discovered Muhammad has been the most typical identify since 2011.
Simply 3,495 boys had been named after the founding father of Islam in 1996, ONS information reveals. This had doubled by 2007, reflecting the surge within the UK’s Muslim group.
When it comes to crude numbers, the identify peaked in 2013 (8,333).
But it makes up an even bigger share of boys now (2.37 per cent) than ever earlier than due to plunging beginning charges – partly fuelled by girls selecting to deal with their careers and {couples} ready to have youngsters till later in life.
Information reveals simply 310,000 boys had been born in 2022, in comparison with virtually 375,000 one decade earlier.
Muhammad, or the opposite spelling of Mohammed, was the most typical boys’ identify in 50 of 300-plus authorities in 2022, MailOnline evaluation additionally discovered.
It trailed Noah (75) however beat George (46) and Arthur (43).
Nonetheless the info don’t characterize the place Muhammad, and its different iterations, is used as an honorific first identify however not the precise identify utilized in day-to-day life. Or certainly for shortened variations of the identify, resembling Mo Salah and Mo Farah.
‘We are able to see a distinction between official names and people used on the earth and that’s one thing very difficult seen within the statistics,’ Dr Gregory added.
‘This might misrepresent how the names are utilized in observe.’
Historically-popular names have largely fallen out of favour, the evaluation additionally reveals.
For instance, Lauren, fifth in 1996, ranked 857th in 2022, with simply 41 women on condition that identify.
Matthew and Ryan, in the meantime, at the moment are ranked 118 and 116, respectively, regardless of being within the prime 10 when fashionable information started.
The development seemingly reveals that persons are falling out of affection with giving youngsters names that you simply grew up round, Dr Gregory mentioned, somewhat than a transfer away from ‘conventional’ naming.
‘Names like Lauren, Matthew and Ryan are a transparent instance of how names skip generations – you won’t identify your baby after folks your age or your mum’s age however possibly that of your grandmother’s age,’ she mentioned.
In relation to women’ names general in 2022, Olivia (3,289) was the preferred in England and Wales for the seventh 12 months in a row.
After Olivia got here Amelia (2,884), Isla (2,613), Ava (2,293) and Ava (2,293).
All carry the identical ‘schwa’ or unstressed vowel on the finish, a mode extra standard with Irish and Scottish names over English names, Dr Gregory defined.
‘They’re names persons are more and more associating with women and femininity so persons are pulling away from the custom,’ she mentioned.
With reference to boys, after Noah and Muhammad within the official ONS rankings got here George (3,699), Oliver (3,691) and Leo (3,610).
