Mohammed to overtake Jack as favourite name

@@@@ · 20-12-2007, 5:53 PM

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.

But there were just 385 more children called Jack and 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.

While 6,772 boys were called Jack, 6,387 were called Mohammed or a variant.

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.

Grace is the most popular girls' name.

The most popular names in Scotland are Lewis and Sophie, and in Northern Ireland are Jack and Katie.

There are two new entries in the girls' top 50 for England and Wales. Ava leaps 23 places to number 41 and Summer rises 15 places to number 44.

Evie has climbed 46 places in the last five years, making it the 15th most popular choice for girls in 2007.

The boys' top 50 sees three new entries this year. Jayden climbs 36 places to become the highest new entry at 32, followed by Isaac and Finley, which both go up 13 places to numbers 42 and 47 respectively.

Other girls' names gaining popularity are Isabelle (up nine to 20), Imogen (up 14 to 34) and Sophia (up 12 to 37). Significant climbers in the boys' top 50 are Alfie (up six to number 10) and Oscar (up 8 to 39).

In Wales alone, the top boys' name remains Jack but Dylan is number two and Rhys remains stable at five. The Welsh girls' list is topped by Ruby. Megan is second most popular while Ffion is number six.

Celebrities continued to have a bearing on the names chosen by parents for their children.

Leona has almost tripled in popularity over the past twelve months, due to X-Factor winner Leona Lewis. In 2007, 238 babies were given the name.

Former Hear 'say member, and 2006 Celebrity jungle runner-up, Myleene Klass, named her daughter Ava earlier this year. This could explain Ava moving 23 places up the girls' rankings in the last year, making it the 41st choice for girls in 2007.

In 2007, Alfie made it into the top 10 for the first time in recent years. This may have been influenced by the hit single Lily Allen wrote about her brother, Alfie, as well as the remake of the film Alfie starring Jude Law.

Nevertheless, Elizabeth has maintained a top 50 spot from the 1940s through to 2007 when 1,268 girls shared the 36th most popular girls' name.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The top 20 boys' and girls' names 2007

Boys

Jack

Thomas

Oliver

Joshua

Harry

Charlie

Daniel

William

James

Alfie

Samuel

George

Joseph

Benjamin

Ethan

Lewis

Mohammed

Jake

Dylan

Jacob

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Girls:

Grace

Ruby

Olivia

Emily

Jessica

Sophie

Chloe

Lily

Ella

Amelia

Lucy

Charlotte

Ellie

Mia

Evie

Hannah

Megan

Katie

Isabella

Isabelle

source http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...0/njack120.xml

RMCF · 20-12-2007, 6:08 PM

Are teddy bears included in the total ??

PAH · 20-12-2007, 6:22 PM

Maybe part of it is down to the new 'celebrity' influenced naming many parents are imposing on their poor kids.

A friend of mine has a young son. His middle name is Jack (after the dad's father) except they've decided to be 'trendy' and spelt it Jak.

I've also got a cousin who's named her newborn daughter Mercedes. Everyone's told her she's lining the child up to be the brunt of all sorts of jokes and potentially bullying because of it, but there must be a 'celebrity' out there who has more influence on her than her own family.

As for the state of the country and it being over-run with immigrants. That's a topic that's bound to get this thread closed sooner than later!

stealther · 20-12-2007, 6:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RMCF

Are teddy bears included in the total ??

Teddy bears are not real so you need to give them fictional names like Jesus

Merry Christmas

dognosh · 20-12-2007, 6:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PAH

As for the state of the country and it being over-run with immigrants. That's a topic that's bound to get this thread closed sooner than later!

Agreed, this topics is bound to get locked now that you have deliberately ,and knowing there are sensetive members here(good members too) , instigated it with your post

JackFord · 20-12-2007, 8:43 PM

Jack, never knew it was so popular.

Praxidike · 20-12-2007, 9:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackFord

Jack, never knew it was so popular.

Wonder if it's anything to do with seemingly every lead character in US TV series being called Jack.

Jammyb · 20-12-2007, 10:10 PM

Q: Name something you would use to change a tyre

A: Mohammed

If it's there I'll give you the money myself.

Decadence · 20-12-2007, 10:31 PM

Some strange/embarrassing name choices in these lists...the chavs must be breeding uncontrollably. I am sure that people forget that some names that are cute for a kid sound very stupid when applied to a grown adult (at least until they are well into their pensionable age)...Alfie...

**Kieron** · 20-12-2007, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RMCF

Are teddy bears included in the total ??

Shouldn't really but

I'm glad that my kids names aren't on the trendy list. Or mine or the wifes!

Some of the names are nice though, but the trendy ones kill me every time. Seems like every young mother has a "Chantelle" or "Paris".....

No, in my eyes you can't beat a Kieron!

**Kieron** · 20-12-2007, 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PAH

I've also got a cousin who's named her newborn daughter Mercedes.

I really shouldn't, but on our recent trip to Vegas with the boys we were harassed by a "working girl" called Mercedes at our nice hotel bar.....

To be honest, she'd have had to pay one of us though. Not a pretty sight....

Sonic67 · 21-12-2007, 2:56 AM

Mercedes is a girls name:

http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Mercedes

pronounced mer-SAY-dees. It is of Spanish origin, and its meaning is "mercies". Used in reference to the Virgin Mary,

So is Porshe

http://www.thinkbabynames.com/search...&t=1&s=porsche

Reign-Mack · 21-12-2007, 5:24 AM

thought Richard would be on that list.

suniil · 21-12-2007, 7:51 AM

thought "Simon" will be in the list

sorry off topic:

some of the main streams of immigration are real joke eg. Highly Skilled migrant program aka HSMP is meant to attract super high qualified & earning professionals, but i came across few cases, some incountry student visa holders worked in somerfield / M&S packing (with contractors) for more than 18 hours per day and qualified the earning criteria

for HSMP

Quote:

Originally Posted by PAH

As for the state of the country and it being over-run with immigrants. That's a topic that's bound to get this thread closed sooner than later!

Fred Quimby · 21-12-2007, 8:16 AM

Wonder if their is a Jack out their with a sister called Jill

shodan · 21-12-2007, 10:54 AM

We named our son Jack. It may be the most popular name but I don't actually know any other Jack's! However, if we have another child and its a girl, I'll name her Mohammed.

MrBlofeldt · 21-12-2007, 11:00 AM

Yep, the more common the family, the more exotic the name. I love the "bonny bairns" competition they run in our local rag, the number of Tylers, Kylies, Demi-Lulabelles, Ayeshas, Jordans and Destinies has me rolling on the floor laughing...

steptoe · 21-12-2007, 1:19 PM

Oh Yea Hes A Right Mohammed The Lad
Dosent Seem To Have The Same Ring To It Somehow

Lezman · 21-12-2007, 3:54 PM

Surely grouping all people who are called a variant of Mohammed doesn't really make sense? All different spellings are all different names?

Terry, Teri, Terri etc.

E.g my name is Laurence. But I wouldn't want to be grouped with all the Lawrences. Commoners

Nimby · 21-12-2007, 6:20 PM

My wife asked whether all the Mohammed's would grow up to be teddy boys.

Isn't spelling Mohammad incorrectly worthy of a good stoning?

Or is it acceptable if you're simply illiterate?

Nimby · 21-12-2007, 6:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lezman

Surely grouping all people who are called a variant of Mohammed doesn't really make sense? All different spellings are all different names?

E.g my name is Laurence. But I wouldn't want to be grouped with all the Lawrences. Commoners

Lawrence of Arabia was not a commoner. He had a Brough Superior.

krish · 22-12-2007, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lezman

Surely grouping all people who are called a variant of Mohammed doesn't really make sense? All different spellings are all different names?

Terry, Teri, Terri etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nimby

Isn't spelling Mohammad incorrectly worthy of a good stoning?

Or is it acceptable if you're simply illiterate?

Probably just as acceptable as being ignorant or facetious about the fact that its bound to have English spelling variants, as do so many names of foreign origin where they may have various pronunciations based on several dialects. But hey what does that matter, when its another chance to stick the boot in.

PAH · 22-12-2007, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sonic67

Mercedes is a girls name:

http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Mercedes

pronounced mer-SAY-dees. It is of Spanish origin, and its meaning is "mercies". Used in reference to the Virgin Mary,

So is Porshe

http://www.thinkbabynames.com/search...&t=1&s=porsche

Doesn't suprise me that many names have a different origin than many people would think, but nowadays I think it's safe to say most people would immediately associate Mercedes or Porshe with the car brands.

That reminds me, I've got a friend who has a daughter called Astra, and he admits it's because he used to own an Astra GTE and says it was one of the best cars he's ever owned. Maybe he also bought into naming the daughter where she was conceived, long before the Beckhams made it popular!

@@@@ · 22-12-2007, 2:03 PM

Taking the naming ones new born after there car a tiny stage further.

Imagine your surname was Minor. Nothing wrong with that. You named your Son Morris.

As bad as having Harbour as a surname. Your Christian name is sydney and your wifes names pearl i guess.

*Wild Weasel* · 22-12-2007, 9:58 PM

It think it's Japan where you can only give your children names from a proscribed list. Maybe France too actually. Saves then suffering chavvy names than will ensure a miserable time being bullied at school I suppose.

krish · 22-12-2007, 11:18 PM

My school year (all born 71/72) was full of Jasons, as popularised by the chap below
- Jason King played by Peter Wyngarde in the two ITV series Department S and Jason King

Sonic67 · 23-12-2007, 2:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nimby

Isn't spelling Mohammad incorrectly worthy of a good stoning?

Or is it acceptable if you're simply illiterate?

I presume that it is an Anglicised version of something wriiten in arabic which is a very different language. You also get

Quran, Koran, Qur'an, al-qur'ān, Al-Qur'an which all come from: القرآن

How would you spell that?

Muhammad is محمد‎