Muhammad topped the list of popular boys’ names across England and Wales last year, according to data published on Thursday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The Islamic forename replaced Noah as the most common listed on birth certificates for newborn boys, offering further evidence of Britain’s changing demographic.
The trend, however, has been around for some time given the multiple variations of the name used which somewhat skew the data.
Muhammad had been the second most popular boys’ name in 2022 and has been in the top 10 since 2016.
A total of 4,661 boys were named Muhammad in the U.K. last year — 484 more than in 2022.
The name was particularly popular in the north of England as well as the two largest cities of London and Birmingham.
The news is part of the wider phenomenon taking place across the continent with Muhammad and its spelling variants already taking the top spot in major cities of other European countries.
The name became the most popular for baby boys in the Irish city of Galway in 2022, marking the first time an Islamic forename had topped the list for either gender in an Irish city.
Similarly, the name was the most popular for boys in the German capital of Berlin that same year.
In Brussels — the de facto capital of the European Union — two variations of the name made up the top three boys’ names in 2021. Mohamed was the most popular with 13,595 registrations. The second most common name was Jean, trailing in its wake at 6,089, while Mohammed took third being given to 4,835 newborns.
