WASHINGTON: The name Muhammad has made the list of top 10 baby names for boys in the US for the first time, reports a US broadcasting service, Voice of America (VOA).

The report is based on the data provided by a parenting website BabyCenter, showing that two Arabic names Muhammad and Aaliyah made it to the top 10 list for boys and girls in 2019.

Sophia remained the most popular name for girls in the United States in 2019 while Liam climbed to the top spot for boys. Muhammad and Aaliyah replaced Mason and Layla to make it to the list.

Other popular names include Jackson, Noah, Aiden and Grayson for boys and Olivia, Emma, Ava and Aria for girls.

Another report says that Muhammad is the most popular name in the world, given to millions of men and boys. “Muhammad’s been rising on BabyCenter top baby name lists around the world, so we knew it would soon break into the US top 10,” Linda Murray, BabyCenter’s global editor in chief, said in a press statement. “Muslim families often choose Muhammad for firstborn sons to honor the Prophet (PBUH) and bring blessings to the child.”

Data from the US Social Security department show that Muhammad went from number 620 in year 2000 to 345 in 2018.

The disparity arises because BabyCenter accepts variable spellings for the same name, such as Mohammad, Mohammed, or Muhammad. The Social Security Administration treats them as separate names.

Muhammad has been the most popular boy’s name in Britain for the last three years, according to BabyCenter. In Britain, statisticians include all three main spelling variations while adding the numbers.

Thousands of boys are named Muhammad, Mohammed or Mohammad in Britain every year.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2019