Muhammad (name)

Muhammad (Arabic: محمد‎) is the primary transliteration of the Arabic given name مُحَمَّد‎ that comes from the passive participle of the Arabic verb ḥammada (حَمَّدَ), praise, which comes from the triconsonantal Semitic root Ḥ-M-D. The word can therefore be translated as "praised, commendable, laudable". It is thought to be the most popular name in the world, being given to an estimated 150 million men and boys.[2]

For other uses, see Muhammad (disambiguation).
Muhammad
Pronunciation/moʊˈhæməd/, /moʊˈhɑːməd/, /muːˈhæməd/, /muːˈhɑːməd/,[1] /moʊˈhæmɛd/, /moʊˈhɑːmɛd/.
Arabic: [muˈħamːad] (listen), [moˈħamːad].
Egyptian Arabic: [mæˈħæmːæd]
Persian: [mohæmˈmæd]
Turkish: [muˈhammed].
Urdu: [mʊˈhəmməd].
GenderMale
Origin
Word/nameArabic language
MeaningPraised (thanked)
Region of originArabia
Other names
Alternative spellingMoohammed, Magomed, Mahmad, Mehmed, Mamadou, Muhammadu,Mahamed, Mohamad, Mohamed, Mohammad, Mohammed, Muhamad, Muhamed, Muhamet, Muhammed, Muhammet, Mahammud, Mehmet, Mohd, Muh, Mahamid, Mohamud, Mokhmad, Magomad, Mukhammad

Lexicology

The name Muḥammad is the strictest and primary transliteration of the Arabic given name, محمد, that comes from the Arabic passive participle of ḥammada (حَمَّدَ), praise, and further from triconsonantal Semitic root Ḥ-M-D (praise); hence praised, or praiseworthy. However, its actual pronunciation differs colloquially, for example, in Egyptian Arabic: IPA: [mæˈħæmːæd], while in exclusively religious contexts, talking about Islam: IPA: [moˈħæmːæd].

The name has one of the highest numbers of English spelling variants in the world.[3] Other Arabic names from the same root include Mahmud, Ahmed, Hamed, Tahmid and Hamid.

Transliterations
Region/countryLanguageMainAlternative
Arab worldArabic dialectsMuhammadMohammad, Mohammed, Mohamad, Mohamed
MaghrebMaghrebi ArabicMuhammedMohamed, Mohammed, Ahmed, M'hamed, Momo or Mao (Nickname)
EgyptEgyptian ArabicMohamed
Copticⲙⲁϩ ⲙⲏⲧ (Mahmād)
Iran, AfghanistanFarsi, DariMohammadMamad (Nickname)
Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, ThailandMalay, Indonesian, variousMuhammadMohammad, Muhamad, Mohamad, Muhd, Mohd, Md
IndonesiaJavanese, Madureseꦩꦠ꧀ (Mat)ꦩꦺꦴꦏꦩꦠ꧀ (Mokamat)
Bangladesh, IndiaBengali, Assamese, Sylhetiমুহাম্মাদ (Muhammad)মুহাম্মদ (Muhammad), মুহম্মদ (Muhammad), মোহাম্মাদ (Mohammad), মোহাম্মদ (Mohammad), মোহম্মদ (Mohammad)
PakistanUrduMuhammad (محمد)Mohammad
TurkeyTurkishMehmetMuhammet, Mehmed, Memet, Hammet
UzbekistanUzbekMuhammad (Муҳаммад)Mahmud, Mahamat, Mahammad
KurdistanKurdishMihemedMemed, Mem, Memo, Miho, Heme
Albania, Kosovo, North MacedoniaAlbanianMuhameti
Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnianMuhamedMuhammed
United KingdomEnglishMuhammadMuhammed, Mohammad, Mohammed, Mo or Moe (Nickname)
KazakhstanKazakhМұхаммед (Mukhammed)Махамбет (Makhambet), Мамбет (Mambet)
Senegal, West AfricaVariousMamadouMomo (Nickname)
Somali peninsulaSomaliMahamedMaxamed , (maame)
EuropeLatinMahometus
CataloniaCatalanMafumet
ItalyItalianMaometto
GreeceGreekΜωάμεθ (Moameth)
SpainSpanishMahoma
PortugalPortugueseMaomé
FranceFrenchMahomet
PolandPolishMahomet
RussiaRussianМуха́ммед (Mukhammed)Магоме́д (Magomed), Магоме́т (Magomet), Моха́ммед (Mokhammed), Муха́ммад (Mukhammad)
ChinaChinese馬 Mǎ (See wiki article)穆罕默德 Mùhǎnmòdé
Uyghurمۇھەممەد‎ (Muhammad)Mehmet
IsraelHebrewמוחמד‎ (Mukhammad)
NigeriaHausaMuhammaduMuhammad, Mamadou, Mahamadou
Chechnya Chechen Мохьмад/Mokhmad Магомад (Magomad), Магомед (Magomed), Мухьаммад (Mukhammad), Мухьаммед (Mukhammed)

The name may be abbreviated to Md., Mohd., Muhd., Mhd., or simply M. because of its utmost meaning, its popularity has meant that it can become hard to distinguish people when there is a multitude with the same name. In some cases it may be to keep a personal name less tied to a religious context. This is only done if the person has a second given name. Some men who have Muhammad (or variant) as a first name choose not to use it, as it is such a common name. Instead they use another given name. For example, Anwar Sadat, Hosni Mubarak, Siad Barre, Zia-ul-Haq, Ayub Khan and Nawaz Sharif use their second given name.

Statistics

According to the sixth edition of The Columbia Encyclopedia (2000), Muhammad is probably the most common given name in the world, including variations.[4] It is estimated that more than 150 million men and boys in the world bear the name Muhammad due to its relationship to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.[5]

It is sometimes reported that Muhammad is the most popular boy’s name in all of Britain; however, this is based on combining multiple spelling variations such as Mohammed, but not combining spelling variants of popular British names such as Ollie and Olly.[6] Based on statistics for the 100 most popular boys' names in England and Wales, the combined count for Muhammad and Mohammed (6233) was higher than Oliver and Olly (6049), but lower than the combined count for Harry and Henry (7684). [7]

Mohammed and Mohamed were the most popular baby name in département Seine-Saint-Denis (2002, 2008)[8] and in Marseilles (2007, 2009), France.[9] Similarly, since 2008 it has been the most popular baby boy name in Brussels and Antwerp, Belgium's most Muslim-populated cities.[10]

In May 2006, it was reported that statistics indicate that some 8,928 Danish Muslims carry the name Muhammad and that in 2004 alone, 167 new-born babies were registered.[11]

In 2009 Mohamed, the most common spelling variant, was ranked 430th in the US.[12] According to the Social Security Administration, Mohammad was ranked 589th, Mohammed 633rd, and Muhammad the 639th most popular first name for newborns in 2006.[13] In the 1990 United States census, the Muhammad variant of the spelling was ranked 4,194 out of 88,799 for people of all ages.[14][15]

In April 2017, the Chinese government prohibited parents from choosing the name Muhammad as the given name for a child. The list included more than two dozen names and was targeted at the 10 million Uighurs in the western region of Xinjiang.[16]

If all variants of Muhammad are counted, there are 14,646 people in Finland named Muhammad. The most common spelling is Mohamed, accounting for 39% of the Muhammad name carriers.[17]

Given name

Mohamad

Mohamed

Mohammad

Mohammed

Muhamad

Muhamed

Muhammad

Muhammadu

Muhammed

Muhammet

Surname

Mohamad
  • Mahathir Mohamad (born 1925), Malaysian politician; Prime Minister of Malaysia (1981–2003; 2018–2020)

Mohamed

Mohammad

Muhammad

Patronymics

ibn

bint

Derived names

See also
  • All pages with titles beginning with Muhammad
  • All pages with titles beginning with Mohamad
  • All pages with titles beginning with Mohammad
  • All pages with titles beginning with Mohammed
  • All pages with titles beginning with Mohamed
  • All pages with titles beginning with Mehmet

References
  1. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th edition
  2. Dugan, Emily. "Most popular baby names: The top 20 boys and girls names in England and Wales". Independent. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  3. Humanism, Culture, and Language in the Near East: Asma Afsaruddin, A. H. Mathias Zahniser - 1997 p 389
  4. "Muhammad, prophet of Islam. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07". 10 February 2009. Archived from the original on 10 February 2009. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  5. Mohammad most popular name in the world Archived 2015-07-04 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Arnett, George (1 December 2014). "Is Muhammad the most popular boy's name in Britain?". the Guardian. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  7. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/datasets/babynamesenglandandwalesbabynamesstatisticsboys
  8. "Insee − Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques" (PDF). Insee. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  9. "Les parents marseillais ont craqué pour Inès et Mohamed". 24 February 2008. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  10. Verkruyssen, Freddy (24 November 2009). "Emma en Noah zijn de populairste voornamen van 2008" (PDF) (in Dutch). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-10-11. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  11. "JTW News - "Muhammad" Most Popular Among Danish Muslims". Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  12. http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/babyname.cgi; searched for Mohamed
  13. "Popular Baby Names". www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  14. Unless otherwise noted, figures are from http://www.name-stats.com/search.php?subject=Muhammad&submit=Search. They don't include different forms of spelling except for 2009 and 2010 for the UK.
  15. "Muhammad - Name Meaning, What does Muhammad mean?". www.thinkbabynames.com. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  16. Hernández, Javier C. (2017-04-25). "China bans certain baby names in heavily Muslim region". The Boston Globe. New York Times News Service. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
  17. http://verkkopalvelu.vrk.fi/Nimipalvelu/default.asp?L=1
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