The Jerusalem Post reports on a worrying – but hardly surprising – trend in England.
The name Mohammed is expected to become the most popular name in England and Wales by 2008, the Daily Telegraph reported on Thursday.
The name, according to the report, was second only to Jack in 2007, which has been top for the last 13 years. 6,772 boys were called Jack and 6,387 were called Mohammed or a variant.
“High birth rate among Muslim families” is the reason cited by the report for how Mohammed will be the most popular boy’s name by next year.
Although Mohammed was ranked 17th, the name’s position would be numbered second if all 14 variant spellings of the name were taken into account.
The Telegraph found that of the 3,009 babies called Mohammed, the most popular spelling was Muhammad (1,595), followed by 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.
Muhammad Anwar (heh – Aussie Dave), professor of ethnic relations at Warwick University, was quoted by the newspaper as saying: “Muslim parents like to have something that shows a link with their religion or with the Prophet.”
Except teddy bears, I guess.
Now don’t get me wrong; I have nothing against a growing Muslim population per se. It’s just that when you factor in the proportion of the growing Muslim population which is acting to reduce the non-Muslim population, there’s real cause for concern.
Update: The Jerusalem Post story includes this picture and caption:
In case you thought the Post had gone to the trouble of finding 4 babies named Mohammed/ Mohammad/ Muhammed/ Mohamed/ Mohamad/ Muhamed/ Mohammod/ Mohmmed/ Mohamud/ Mahammed/ Muhammeet/ Mohmmad/ Muhammod, and lined them up for a photograph.
