Mohammed remains top Muslim name for baby boys in UK
Regional-UK, Local, 12/23/2006

Mohammed remains the most popular Muslim name given to baby boys in England and Wales with two different spellings for the first time entering the top 50 picked by all parents in 2006.

The variant Muhammad was listed as the 44th most common name, up from 69th last year, while Mohammad remained the most popular spelling, moving up one place from 23rd to 22nd, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics.

Newly born babies named after the prophet would have been placed much higher in the general popularity list but for the variations in spellings.

Altogether, 5,936 newly born babies were named Mohammad, one of seven other variants in England in 2006, up from 4,532 last year and from 3,732 named in 2000.

The figures showed that Jack remained the most popular boy's name for the 12th consecutive year with almost 7,000 babies given the name.

Thomas, Joshua and Oliver were the next most popular.

Among baby girls, the most popular Muslim name last year was Yasmine, listed overall at 31st, up from 41st last year, but down from 28th in 2002.

The second most common was Alisha, which moved up to 56th in the general list. The variant of Zara was also included at 82nd, up from 85th, while entering the top 100 for the first time was Layla at 96th.

The most favored named for baby girls for the first time in 2006 was Olivia, which replaced Jessica from the top spot. Grace also leaped five places into second spot.

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