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August 14th, 2012
12:19 PM ET
Mohammed retakes top spot in English baby namesBy Richard Allen Greene, CNN Mohammed reclaimed its place as the most popular name for baby boys born in England and Wales in 2011 - convincingly ahead of Harry, in second place, according to data released by the government this week. The government declared that Harry was the most popular boy's name, but if you add up the five most popular different spellings of Mohammed, that name comes top. Mohammed is also the most popular boy's name of the past five years for England and Wales, ahead of Oliver and Jack. It came first or second every year since 2007, the only name to do so. And it could become even more popular in 2012, given the adulation around long-distance runner Mo Farah, who won two gold medals for Britain at the Olympics.
The popularity of the name comes as Britain's Muslim population is expected to double in the next 20 years. The country, which was about 2% Muslim in 1990, grew to 4.6% Muslim in 2010, with nearly 2.9 million followers of the faith, according to analysis by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. By 2030, the United Kingdom will be just over 8% Muslim, with more than 5.5 million adherents, the Washington-based think tank projected in a 2011 report, "The Future of the Global Muslim Population." Mohammed first became the most popular boy's name in England in 2009, then was knocked back into second place the next year as Oliver enjoyed a huge surge in popularity. Harry, the name of Prince William's younger brother and J.K. Rowling's boy wizard, leaped into second place in 2011, with 7,523 boys given the moniker, topping the 7,007 Olivers. But the name of the Muslim prophet was given to 7,907 baby boys, according to CNN analysis of Office of National Statistics data. Mohammed, Muhammad and Mohammad were all among the top 100 most popular names, with Muhammed and Mohamed also coming in the top 200. A total of 37,564 babies have been given a variation of the name in the past five years. Some 36,653 Olivers and 36,581 Jacks were born in England and Wales since 2007. The British government keeps separate statistics for Scotland and for Northern Ireland, the other two nations that make up the United Kingdom. The 2011 British census had an optional question about religion. Results are expected in November. At least four different spellings of the name Mohammed are among the 1,000 most popular American boys' names in 2011, according to the Social Security Administration. Mohamed is the top, in 428th place, with Muhammad in 480th, Mohammed in 562nd and Mohammad in 609th. The United States is about 0.8% Muslim, with about 2.6 million adherents, the Pew Forum calculates. soundoff (1,026 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Next »
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This reminds me of the McLovin scene from Super Bad when he makes the case for Mohammed being the world's most popular name. Haha.
http://guymanningham.com
This reminds me of the McLovin scene from Super Bad haha.
http://guymanningham.com
Did anyone notice in the article...
"Mohammed is also the most popular boy's name of the past five years for England and Wales, ahead of Oliver and Jack. It came first or second every year since 2007, the only name to do so."
then later we read
"Mohammed first became the most popular boy's name in England in 2009, then was knocked back into second place the next year as Oliver enjoyed a huge surge in popularity."
Did it first become popular in England in 2007 or 2009? I see that this religion blog is always so terribly written and edited.
It came first OR second every year since 2007. It came first for the first time in 2009, so presumably it was second in 2007 and 2008. Its continued popularity (whether it's first or not) makes it the most popular boy's name of the past five years—the entire past five years taken as a group, not one year at a time.
I value the life and tax contributions of an authentic, ethnic Briton higher than the life of a 3rd world immigrant/scab.
I don't have an issue with this but it's curious that if only 4.6%, or whatever percent it would be now in 2012, of the UK population is Muslim, why is Mohammed the top male name? Do the White male Brits all have ED? Also, have some originality regardless of what faith or ethnicity you are. I can see an elementary school classroom where every boy in there is named Mohammed. And I don't mean those weirdo Hollywood actors' kids names.
Its weird how christians do not name their boys Jesus, yet Mohammed is supposedly untouchable. Can't draw him, can't insult him, can't do anything but idolize him. I don't mean spanish pronuciation Hay Soos, but you just do not see a kid in America named Jesus LOL. It would seem wierd and out of place.
Kill muslims. The way Israel does!
Israel makes us pay for Muslims, instead, to our own detriment.
This is a nonsense article.
Mohammed isn't in the top 10 names, let alone number 1.
If you only choose to add all the variants of spelling of Mohammed, but don't do the same for all the James, Jims, Jamies, all the Lilys, Lillys, Lilians, all the Harrys, Harolds, Henrys, etc, then it's biased reporting.
You may as well have just had 2 sentences for this whole article:
Europe = islamic = bad. America = Christian = good.
That's what you want to paint.
Be sure to tell everyone who screams about CNN being a branch of the Liberal Media Conspiracy.
lol @ hate-speading reneck wannabe neo-nazis at this forum!!
indeed! it is easy for them to hide behind a computer screen
alah and muhammad are lovers!
Alah is a hom0-se-xu-al and muhammad is his bee – ach!
The most beautiful name EVER!!! Muhammad
mmmua :*
Where is Muhammad buried?
It was either that or McLovin...
Who cares? I was much more concerned for our future when 'Bella' and 'Edward' crept close to the top of baby names in the U.S.
Maybe the next James Bond could be muslim. Then he could use torture, beheadings, and acid burns to make the villains talk and would not need all of those fancy western gadgets.
But wouldn't he be self-detonating and therefore of limited use?
They should have taken care of that problem years ago. Too late now. Within 20 years England will have a muslim head of state. If my history is correct, did not England NOT recognize Israel as a state in 1948? Just saying....
bye bye England.
It doesn't really make much sense to recognize a state that rebelled from your U.N. mandate.
Britain lost WW2. International bankers and International Communism won ww2.
lol byebye england!
Someone has their wires crossed. Is CNN more knowledgable about this than BBC News? On the BBC News site ,lasted updated yesterday, the top five names in order were..Harry,Oliver,Jack,Alfie and Charlie.CNN "the most trusted name in news?" Judge for yourselves.
The article states that Mohammed is only number one if you add up all of the existing spelling variations of the name.
Harry is technically the most popular name, but according the CNN article, if you add up all the number of spellings of mohammed, then Mohammed overtakes Harry.
The answer is in the article – there are several ways of spelling the name
Muhammad
Mohammad
Muhammed
Mohammed
Mohamed
Mohumed
So if you accept that all are effectively trying to name after the same person then the count of all those permutations means that Mohammed is the most popular
If you are the BBC or a Government official then you want to hide the fact that the Muslims are out breeding the indigenous population by counting each spelling as an unique instance
Either way the country (and the whole of the West) is completely ruined long term
Dear England:
You had better get a grip on that if it is not too late. You see what they have done to the countries they came from. You also have seen first hand what they are capable of at the slightest provocation.
Don't draw them in any political cartoons or you'll have to spend the rest of your life in hiding.
Queue racist and anti-immigration comments. Wake up people, the world changes whether you like it or not.
You sound like a militant former Eastern European, comrade Trotsky. We don't want your Tower of Babel scams!
Just because something changes doesn't mean its for the better or that you have to like it.