Muhammad (
Arabic: مُحَمَّد,
romanized: Muḥammad), also spelled Muhammed, Muhamad, Mohammad, Mohammed, Mahammad, Maxammed, Mehemmed, Mohamad, Mohamed, or in a variety of other ways, is an Arabic given male name meaning 'Praiseworthy'. The name comes from the passive participle of the Arabic verb ḥammada (حَمَّدَ), meaning 'to praise', which itself comes from the
triconsonantalSemitic root
Ḥ-M-D. Believed to be the most popular name in the world, by 2014 it was estimated to have been given to 150 million men and boys.[2]
The name has been banned for newborn children in the
Xinjiang region of China since 2017,[3] as well as for the
Ahmadi community in Pakistan.[4]
The name has one of the highest numbers of English spelling variants in the world.[6] Other Arabic names from the same root include Mahmud, Ahmed, Hamed, Tahmid and Hamid.
Transliterations
The name may be abbreviated to Md., Mohd., Muhd., Mhd., or simply M. because of its ubiquity. Its popularity has meant that it can become hard to distinguish people. In some cases it may be to keep a personal name less tied to a religious context. This is only done if the person has a second given name. Some men who have Muhammad (or variant) as a first name choose not to use it, as it is such a common name. Instead they use another given name. For example,
Anwar Sadat,
Hosni Mubarak,
Siad Barre,
Zia-ul-Haq,
Ayub Khan,
Nawaz Sharif and
Shehbaz Sharif use their second given name.[citation needed]
Statistics
According to the sixth edition of The Columbia Encyclopedia (2000), Muhammad is probably the most common given name in the world, including variations.[7]The Independent reported in 2014 that more than 150 million men and boys in the world bear the name Muhammad, which would make it the most popular name in the world.[8] Approximately 60% of people named Muhammad live in
Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan.
It is sometimes reported that Muhammad is the most popular boy's name in all of Britain; however, this is based on combining multiple spelling variations such as Mohammed, but not combining spelling variants of popular British names such as Ollie and Olly.[9] Based on statistics for the 100 most popular boys' names in
England and
Wales, the combined count for Muhammad and Mohammed (6233) was higher than Oliver and Olly (6049), but lower than the combined count for Harry and Henry (7684).[10][11]
Mohammed and Mohamed were the most popular baby name in DépartementSeine-Saint-Denis (2002, 2008)[12] and in
Marseilles (2007, 2009), France.[13]
Similarly, since 2008 it has been the most popular baby boy name in Brussels and Antwerp, Belgium's most Muslim-populated cities.[14]
In May 2006, it was reported that statistics indicate that some 8,928
Danish Muslims carry the name Muhammad and that in 2004 alone, 167 new-born babies were registered.[15]
In 2009, Muhammad, the most common spelling variant, was ranked 430th in the US.[16] According to the
Social Security Administration, Mohammad was ranked 589th, Mohammed 633rd, and Muhammad the 639th most popular first name for newborns in 2006.[17] In the 1990 United States census, the Muhammad variant of the spelling was ranked 4,194 out of 88,799 for people of all ages.[18][19]
In April 2017, the
Chinese government prohibited parents from choosing the name Muhammad as the given name for a child. The list included more than two dozen names and was targeted at the 10 million
Uighurs in the western region of
Xinjiang.[20]
If all variants of Muhammad are counted, there are 15,723 people in
Finland named Muhammad, accounting for 0.7% of the Finnish male population. The most common spelling is Mohamed, accounting for 38% of the Muhammad name carriers.[21][22]
Muhammad ibn Maslamah, (588 or 591–665) was an Arab knight and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was known as "The Knight of Allah's Prophet".
In 2017 legislation made it illegal in China to give children names that the Chinese government deemed to "exaggerate religious fervor”.[25][26] This prohibition included a ban on naming children Muhammad.[26] The legislation was officially intended to prevent "religious extremism" among the country's
Uighur minority, but may have been an act of
persecution against the Uighur community.[27][28]
^Alford T. Welch; Ahmad S. Moussalli; Gordon D. Newby (2009).
"Muḥammad". In John L. Esposito (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. The Prophet of Islam was a religious, political, and social reformer who gave rise to one of the great civilizations of the world. From a modern, historical perspective, Muḥammad was the founder of Islam. From the perspective of the Islamic faith, he was God's Messenger (rasūl Allāh), called to be a "warner," first to the Arabs and then to all humankind.{{
cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link)
This page or section lists people that share the same
given name or the same
family name. If an
internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.
Muhammad (
Arabic: مُحَمَّد,
romanized: Muḥammad), also spelled Muhammed, Muhamad, Mohammad, Mohammed, Mahammad, Maxammed, Mehemmed, Mohamad, Mohamed, or in a variety of other ways, is an Arabic given male name meaning 'Praiseworthy'. The name comes from the passive participle of the Arabic verb ḥammada (حَمَّدَ), meaning 'to praise', which itself comes from the
triconsonantalSemitic root
Ḥ-M-D. Believed to be the most popular name in the world, by 2014 it was estimated to have been given to 150 million men and boys.[2]
The name has been banned for newborn children in the
Xinjiang region of China since 2017,[3] as well as for the
Ahmadi community in Pakistan.[4]
The name has one of the highest numbers of English spelling variants in the world.[6] Other Arabic names from the same root include Mahmud, Ahmed, Hamed, Tahmid and Hamid.
Transliterations
The name may be abbreviated to Md., Mohd., Muhd., Mhd., or simply M. because of its ubiquity. Its popularity has meant that it can become hard to distinguish people. In some cases it may be to keep a personal name less tied to a religious context. This is only done if the person has a second given name. Some men who have Muhammad (or variant) as a first name choose not to use it, as it is such a common name. Instead they use another given name. For example,
Anwar Sadat,
Hosni Mubarak,
Siad Barre,
Zia-ul-Haq,
Ayub Khan,
Nawaz Sharif and
Shehbaz Sharif use their second given name.[citation needed]
Statistics
According to the sixth edition of The Columbia Encyclopedia (2000), Muhammad is probably the most common given name in the world, including variations.[7]The Independent reported in 2014 that more than 150 million men and boys in the world bear the name Muhammad, which would make it the most popular name in the world.[8] Approximately 60% of people named Muhammad live in
Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan.
It is sometimes reported that Muhammad is the most popular boy's name in all of Britain; however, this is based on combining multiple spelling variations such as Mohammed, but not combining spelling variants of popular British names such as Ollie and Olly.[9] Based on statistics for the 100 most popular boys' names in
England and
Wales, the combined count for Muhammad and Mohammed (6233) was higher than Oliver and Olly (6049), but lower than the combined count for Harry and Henry (7684).[10][11]
Mohammed and Mohamed were the most popular baby name in DépartementSeine-Saint-Denis (2002, 2008)[12] and in
Marseilles (2007, 2009), France.[13]
Similarly, since 2008 it has been the most popular baby boy name in Brussels and Antwerp, Belgium's most Muslim-populated cities.[14]
In May 2006, it was reported that statistics indicate that some 8,928
Danish Muslims carry the name Muhammad and that in 2004 alone, 167 new-born babies were registered.[15]
In 2009, Muhammad, the most common spelling variant, was ranked 430th in the US.[16] According to the
Social Security Administration, Mohammad was ranked 589th, Mohammed 633rd, and Muhammad the 639th most popular first name for newborns in 2006.[17] In the 1990 United States census, the Muhammad variant of the spelling was ranked 4,194 out of 88,799 for people of all ages.[18][19]
In April 2017, the
Chinese government prohibited parents from choosing the name Muhammad as the given name for a child. The list included more than two dozen names and was targeted at the 10 million
Uighurs in the western region of
Xinjiang.[20]
If all variants of Muhammad are counted, there are 15,723 people in
Finland named Muhammad, accounting for 0.7% of the Finnish male population. The most common spelling is Mohamed, accounting for 38% of the Muhammad name carriers.[21][22]
Muhammad ibn Maslamah, (588 or 591–665) was an Arab knight and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was known as "The Knight of Allah's Prophet".
In 2017 legislation made it illegal in China to give children names that the Chinese government deemed to "exaggerate religious fervor”.[25][26] This prohibition included a ban on naming children Muhammad.[26] The legislation was officially intended to prevent "religious extremism" among the country's
Uighur minority, but may have been an act of
persecution against the Uighur community.[27][28]
^Alford T. Welch; Ahmad S. Moussalli; Gordon D. Newby (2009).
"Muḥammad". In John L. Esposito (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. The Prophet of Islam was a religious, political, and social reformer who gave rise to one of the great civilizations of the world. From a modern, historical perspective, Muḥammad was the founder of Islam. From the perspective of the Islamic faith, he was God's Messenger (rasūl Allāh), called to be a "warner," first to the Arabs and then to all humankind.{{
cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link)
This page or section lists people that share the same
given name or the same
family name. If an
internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.