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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Mohammed to overtake Jack as favourite name in England & Wales |
| 2007-12-24 |
| Just the jist of the article. Left the fluff off. Mohammed is on track to become the most popular boys' name in England and Wales by next year. The name was second only to Jack in 2007, which has been top for the last 13 years. While 6,772 boys were called Jack, 6,387 were called Mohammed or a variant. But because of the high birth rate among Muslim families, the name is set to become the most popular boy's name by next year. While Mohammed is in 17th place, its position would be number two if all 14 variant spellings of the name were taken into account. An analysis by the Daily Telegraph of the names, compiled each year by the Office for National Statistics, shows there were 3,009 babies called Mohammed, the most popular spelling; 1,595 Muhammads, 903 Mohammads, 429 Muhammeds, 349 Mohameds, 39 Mohamads, 12 Muhameds, 11 Mohammods, nine Mohmmeds, eight Mohamuds, seven Mahammeds, six Muhammeets, five Mohmmads and five Muhammods. There were 5,803 babies called Thomas, which is listed by the ONS as the second most popular name. Muhammad is regularly cited as the most common name in the world. It means "one who is praiseworthy", and is often given to boys as an honorary prefix and is followed by the name by which they are commonly known. 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." Overall, Muslims account for three per cent of the British population, about 1.5 million people. The name Mohammed first entered the top 30 in 2000. |
| Posted by:Alaska Paul |