Muhammad is NOT Britain’s most-popular baby name in Britain
Muhammad is NOT Britain’s most-popular name even when all the variants are combined because Ollies and Harrisons help Oliver and Harry stay on top
- There are more Olivers if the shortened version of the name, Ollie, is included
- Harry is also a more popular name than Mohammed if you include Harrisons
- Figures show 3,691 Muhammads, 837 Mohammads, and 1,982 Mohammeds
- But there were 6,259 Olivers born in England and Wales in 2017, and 788 Ollies
Muhammed is not the most popular boy’s name in the country, the official in charge of counting the nation’s favourite baby names said today.
It is usually thought that the Muslim name is most popular moniker in the country when all its variant spellings – including Mohammed – are added together.
But there are more Olivers if the shortened version of the name, Ollie, is included, and more Harrys if Harrison, Harris and other versions are thrown in.
And even Mohammed is in decline as Muslim parents, who have traditionally chosen the name for boys, join the trend for new parents to pick more individual and less predictable names.
Muhammed is not the most popular boy’s name in the country, the official in charge of counting the nation’s favourite baby names said today. It is usually thought that the Muslim name is most popular moniker in the country when all its variant spellings – including Mohammed – are added together (stock image)
The verdict on the annual controversy over whether Mohammed in various spellings is the most common name for baby boys was delivered by Nick Stripe of the Office for National Statistics. He spoke on the eve of the publication of the list of the top names chosen for their babies by new parents in 2018.
‘Every year, many commentators conclude that if you add up all the different ways of spelling Muhammad, it would be the most popular boys’ name,’ Mr Stripe said. ‘There is a clear rationale for doing so, as each spelling simply reflects an alternative transliteration of the name from different languages into English.’
But he said that the national statistics organisation did not try to count different spellings of the same root as one name because it would not be objective to do so.
‘Adding up all the different ways of spelling Oliver last year, for example, including shortened versions such as Ollie, would have pipped all the Muhammads. You can try the same with all the Harrys, Harris’ and Harrisons. Some might even want to add in all the Henrys as well. Prince Harry is called Henry, after all.’
The list of popular names for 2017, published this time last year, counted the top boy’s name Oliver separately from its shorter version Ollie.
There were 6,259 Olivers born in England and Wales during 2017, and 788 Ollies. The total of the two Oliver variants came to 7,047.
There are more Olivers than Mohammed’s if the shortened version of the name, Ollie, is included. Left: Mo Farah, whose real name is Mohammed, right, Olly Murs, whose name is short for Oliver
There are more Harrys if Harrison, Harris and other versions are thrown in. Pictured: Harry Styles
This outnumbered the 3,691 Muhammads, 837 Mohammads, and 1,982 Mohammeds, a total of 6,510 boys named after the Islamic Prophet.
Mr Stripe said that the share of babies which get the top name – in 2017 Oliver and Olivia remained the most popular pair for the second year running – has halved since the 1990s. He suggested the decline of Christianity and the rise of social media may be influences pushing parents towards a wider choice of names.
‘There has been a decline in Christianity and church attendance,’ Mr Stripe said. ‘Hugely popular names from the 20th century such as John, Paul, Mark, Matthew, Simon, Christopher and Peter all had clear roots in the Gospels and Saints. Most are now well outside the top 100 names for boys.’
Mr Stripe said: ‘Adding up all the different ways of spelling Oliver last year, for example, including shortened versions such as Ollie, would have pipped all the Muhammads. You can try the same with all the Harrys, Harris’ and Harrisons. Some might even want to add in all the Henrys as well. Prince Harry is called Henry, after all’. Pictured: Prince Harry with Meghan Markle and their son who they’ve gave the uncommon moniker Archie Harrison
He added that parents now name children after characters from Downton Abbey, Peaky Blinders or Game of Thrones, and even reality TV personalities or YouTube vloggers.
‘The search for different names ‘perhaps started with mass communication has become more and more niche with the explosion in digital communications and social media,’ Mr Stripe said.
‘We appear to like to try to be unique, as much as to follow the crowd. We don’t all watch the same TV programmes every day and choice abounds.’
‘My plea, when we release the 2018 lists of baby names, is that the debate around Muhammad is rooted in its wider context. Social and cultural change across the whole country is the bigger, but more complex story here.’
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