[quote]SexMachine wrote:
Mohammad is actually the most common name now in Britain.[/quote]
No, it’s the most popular baby name amongst the 56,157 people who are members of the BabyCentre.co.uk website who gave birth in 2014.
According to the British Office for National Statistics, there were 698,512 babies born in Britain in 2013. The most popular boy’s name was Oliver (6,949), followed by Jack (6,212), Harry (5,888), Jacob (5,126) and Charlie (5,039). Muhammad came in at 15th place, with 3,499 boys so named. Mohammad (with an “o”) came in at 23rd place, with 2,887 named after the prophet.
Admittedly, I have no data on how many boys were named Muhammed, Mohamed, Mohammed, Mohamad, Muhammet, or Muhamet, because none of these made the top fifty.
But we also have no data on how many boys were registered with the name Oliwer, Ollie, Olli, Olivier, Oliviero, Oilibhear, Olivario, Oilbhreis, or Olivarius. Probably not as many as Oliver, but these are all still the same name. Add 'em all up, and my money says their number beats the number of Muhammad variations.
Ditto with the name in the number 2 slot: a boy named John, Jacob, Jackie, Jackson, Johnny, Jacques, Jake, Jay, Jayceon, Jaco, or Jacobi is at least as much of a Jack as Mahomet and Mohamed are Muhammads. And they are in fact probably more numerous even than the Olivers.
In any case, it’s a moot point. The Guardian jumped the gun, as the actual 2014 data for the UK won’t be published until August of this year.