Muhammad is now the most popular name for baby boys in England and Wales, toppling Noah in the official rankings.
In 2023, more than 4,600 boys were named Muhammad, as reported by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This number saw an increase of nearly 500 compared to the previous year, 2022.
The number of Noahs, meanwhile, slid from 4,586 to 4,382. Oliver, which ranked third, also saw a slight drop in prevalence.
This is the first time a single spelling of the Islamic name has dominated the list. However, an analysis by MailOnline indicates that when all variations of the name are combined, Muhammad has been the most popular choice for over ten years.
Olivia retained the top spot on the list of girl’s names for the eighth year in a row, followed by Amelia and Isla.
Each year the ONS analyses the latest baby name data, uncovering trends in how certain names have fallen out of favour or soared in popularity.
Interestingly, there has been a noticeable trend in parents opting for names such as Margot and Cilian. This surge is believed to be influenced by the ‘Barbenheimer’ trend, where audiences rushed to theaters to see Margot Robbie in Barbie and Cilian Murphy in Oppenheimer.
The ONS also pointed to a ‘continued increase’ in parents opting for names of the reality TV Kardashian-Jenner family such as Reign, Saint and Stormi in favour of traditional Royal monikers.
There was also a surge in hyphenated girls’ names.
Mohammed, a different spelling, entered the top 100 boys’ names for England and Wales 100 years ago, debuting at 91st in 1924.
Its prevalence dropped considerably in the lead up to and during WW2 but began to rise in the 1960s.
That particular iteration of the name was the only one to appear in the ONS’ top 100 data from 1924 until Mohammad joined in the early 1980s.
Muhammad, now the most popular of the trio, first broke into the top 100 in the mid-1980s and has seen the fastest growth of all three iterations since.
The name means ‘praiseworthy’ or ‘commendable’ and stems from the Arabic word ‘hamad’ meaning ‘to praise’ and is shared with the founder of Islam, the prophet Muhammad.
Increasing sizes of Muslim communities across the UK fuelled by immigration, as well as the popularity of sporting figures such as Mo Farah, Mohamed Salah and Muhammad Ali are likely to have sparked the increase.
The ONS only provides statistics based on the exact spelling and do not group names, as some groupings are subjective and not straightforward.
For example, if multiple spelling were grouped under one umbrella name, Theodore (8th in 2023, 2,666) and Theo (11th in 2023, 2,489) would also be above Noah.
The biggest gainer in the top 15 list of boy names was Luca, which jumped from 12th last year with 2,625 namings to 7th this year with 3,195.
Henry, too, jumped from 13th (2,624) last year to 10th (2,490).
Of the top 100 names given to boys, Bodhi saw the highest one year leap. It jumped from 637th to 100th.
New entries to the top 100 baby names include Hazel, Lilah, Autumn, Nevaeh and Raya for girls, as well as Jax, Enzo and Bodhi for boys.
On the girls’ side, 2,906 babies were called in Olivia in 2023. This was down on 3,289 the previous year.
Ava fell from 4th place in 2022 (2,293) to 6th this time around with 2,050 namings, while Willow jumped into the top 10, placing ninth with 1,833 namings.
The only four-digit rankings leap across either gender came from Nova, which took 81st, having sat in 1,128th spot last year.
Elsewhere in the world of celebrity, the ONS data showed Hollywood still holds a massive sway over Brits’ naming habits.
With the releases of box office smash hits Oppenheimer and Barbie last summer, Robbie in particular saw a major boost to namesakes in England and Wales, nearly doubling between February and July 2023.
Cillian also saw a bump from just 12 namings in April to 31 in October – three months after the release of Christopher Nolan’s atomic bomb epic.
Musicians also have a proven track record of influencing the names of our children.
Last year was the year of Rita and Dua in certain parts of the UK.
This time around, nine-time Grammy award winner Billie Eilish saw her biggest gain in years, following on from writing the title song for Margot Robbie’s Barbie flick, a major US tour and collaboration with Apple Films and a starring role in her first TV project.
Though the name choices for A-list celebrities such as Kim Kardashian rank relatively low on the frequency scale, their popularity appears to still be growing.
Kim gave birth to North in 2013, Saint in 2015, Chicago in 2018 and Psalm-West in 2019 while with ex-husband Kanye West.
Her sister Kourtney gave birth to her daughter Reign in 2014 and the name’s popularity has rocketed since.
Despite general enthusiasm and support for the Royal Family holding steady since the Queen’s death in September 2022, there seem to be less namesakes of the world’s most famous family in England and Wales.
George and Archie, sons of Prince William and his brother the Duke of Sussex, have both seen sharp drop-offs in terms of their popularities, with George falling below 4,000 in 2023 for the first time in nearly ten years.
Camilla (63), after the Queen Consort, has remained largely flat over the same time period as have Lilibet (33)
Names are becoming more creative, and not just down to the calling children the namesake of a famous celebrity.
Ivy-Rose was the most popular hyphenated name in 2023, which earned the spot of 224th with 208 recordings.
Isla-Rose followed in 337th place with 128 namings, while Ava-Mae (114 namings) and Lily-Rose (111 namings), potentially inspired Lily-Rose Depp, followed.
On the boy side, Tommy-Lee is the highest-ranking hyphenated name but does not appear until number 439 with just 90 namings.
Arlo-James with 44 namings and Abdul-Hadi with 37 names follow in 754th and 857th place, respectively.
The data also show huge spikes around certain namings at certain times of the year.
Poppy leapt from 132 in September to 222 in November around Remembrance Sunday, while Summer almost quadrupled between April and October and Holly nearly tripled from November to December.
