Muhammad (name) explained

Muhammad
Gender:Male
Meaning:"praised", "worthy of all praises"
Region:Arabia
Origin:Arabic
Alternative Spelling:Moohammed, Mahmad, Mahammad, Mahammed, Muhammadu, Mahamed, Mohamad, Mohamed, Mohammad, Mohammed, Muhamad, Muhamed, Muhammed, Muhammet, Muhummud, Mahammud, Mohd. Muh., Mochamad, Mohamud, Mokhmad, Mukhammad, Md., Mo., M., Mohammad, Muhammad,

Muhammad, also spelled Muhammed, Muhamad, Mohammad, Mohammed, Mahammad, Maxammed, Mehemmed, Mohamad, Mohamed, or in a variety of other ways, is an Arabic given male name meaning 'praiseworthy'. The name comes from the passive participle of the Arabic verb (حَمَّدَ), meaning 'to praise', which itself comes from the triconsonantal Semitic root Ḥ-M-D. Believed to be the most popular name in the world, by 2014 it was estimated to have been given to 150 million men and boys.[1]

The name has been banned for newborn children in the Xinjiang region of China since 2017,[2] as well as for the Ahmadi community in Pakistan.[3]

Lexicology

The name is the standard, primary transliteration of the Arabic given name, Arabic: محمد, that comes from the Arabic passive participle of ḥammada (Arabic: 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: pronounced as /mæˈħæmːæd/, while in exclusively religious contexts, talking about Islam: pronounced as /moˈħæmːæd/.[4]

The name has one of the highest numbers of English spelling variants in the world.[5] Other Arabic names from the same root include Mahmud, Ahmed, Hamed, Tahmid and Hamid.

Transliterations

The name may be abbreviated to Md., Mohd., Muhd., Mhd., or simply M. because of its ubiquity. Its popularity has meant that it can become hard to distinguish people. 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, Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz 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.[6] The Independent reported in 2014 that more than 150 million men and boys in the world bear the name Muhammad, which would make it the most popular name in the world.[7] Approximately 60% of people named Muhammad live in Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan.

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.[8] 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).[9] [10]

Mohammed and Mohamed were the most popular baby name in Département Seine-Saint-Denis (2002, 2008)[11] and in Marseilles (2007, 2009), France.[12] Similarly, since 2008 it has been the most popular baby boy name in Brussels and Antwerp, Belgium's most Muslim-populated cities.[13]

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.[14]

In 2009, Muhammad, the most common spelling variant, was ranked 430th in the US.[15] According to the Social Security Administration, Mohammad was ranked 589th, Mohammed 633rd, and Muhammad the 639th most popular first name for newborns in 2006.[16] 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.[17] [18]

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.[19]

If all variants of Muhammad are counted, there are 15,723 people in Finland named Muhammad, accounting for 0.7% of the Finnish male population. The most common spelling is Mohamed, accounting for 38% of the Muhammad name carriers.[20] [21]

Given name

Mamadou

Mochamad

Mochammad

Mohamad

Mohamed

Mohammad

Mohammed

Muhamad

Muhamed

Muhammad

Muhammadu

Muhammed

Muhammet

Moegamat

Surname

Mohamad

Mohamed

Mohammad

Mohammed

Muhammad

Patronymics

ibn

bint

Teknonymy

Fictional

Derived names

Umm Muhammad

Famous derived names

Legality and restrictions

China

In 2017 legislation made it illegal in China to give children names that the Chinese government deemed to "exaggerate religious fervor”.[24] [25] This prohibition included a ban on naming children Muhammad. The legislation was officially intended to prevent "religious extremism" among the country's Uighur minority, but may have been an act of persecution against the Uighur community.[26] [27]

Pakistan

The government of Pakistan forbids members of its Ahmadi community from naming their children Muhammad.[28] [29] Al Jazeera reported in 2021 that blasphemy charges had been filed against Ahmadis who wrote "Mohammed" on a wedding invitation in an unspecified amount of instances.[30]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Dugan . Emily . Most popular baby names: The top 20 boys and girls names in England and Wales . Independent . 15 August 2014 . 12 May 2020.
  2. News: Hernández. Javier C.. 2017-04-25. China Bans 'Muhammad' and 'Jihad' as Baby Names in Heavily Muslim Region. en-US. The New York Times. 2022-02-12. 0362-4331.
  3. Web site: Amid bullets and 'blasphemy', Pakistan's Ahmadis struggle on . 2022-06-12 . www.aljazeera.com . en.
  4. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/muhammad "Muhammad- Dictionary"
  5. Humanism, Culture, and Language in the Near East: Asma Afsaruddin, A. H. Mathias Zahniser - 1997 p 389
  6. Web site: MUHAMMAD, prophet of Islam. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20090210042242/http://www.bartleby.com/65/MU/MUHAMMD.html. dead. 10 February 2009. 10 February 2009. 2 November 2018.
  7. Web site: 2014-08-15 . Baby names: The top 20 boys and girls names in England and Wales . 2022-06-12 . The Independent . en.
  8. Web site: Is Muhammad the most popular boy's name in Britain?. George. Arnett. 1 December 2014. the Guardian. 2 November 2018.
  9. Web site: Baby names for boys in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics.
  10. Web site: Baby names for boys in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics. 2021-09-02. www.ons.gov.uk.
  11. Web site: Insee − Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques. Insee. 2 November 2018.
  12. Web site: Les parents marseillais ont craqué pour Inès et MOHAMED. 24 February 2008. 2 November 2018.
  13. Web site: EMMA EN NOAH ZIJN de populairste voornamen van 2008 . Freddy . Verkruyssen . nl . 24 November 2009 . 2010-10-11 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101011224910/http://statbel.fgov.be/nl/binaries/BRO09725-N_tcm325-81232.pdf . 2010-10-11 .
  14. Web site: JTW News - "MUHAMMAD" Most Popular Among Danish Muslims. 2 November 2018.
  15. http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/babyname.cgi; searched for MOHAMED
  16. Web site: Popular Baby Names. www.ssa.gov. 2 November 2018.
  17. 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.
  18. Web site: MUHAMMAD - Name Meaning, What does MUHAMMAD mean?. www.thinkbabynames.com. 2 November 2018.
  19. News: HERNÁNDEZ . Javier C. . China bans certain baby names in heavily Muslim region . . New York Times News Service . 2017-04-25 . 2017-04-26 .
  20. Web site: Digi- ja väestötietovirasto.
  21. Web site: Digi- ja väestötietovirasto. 2021-09-02. verkkopalvelu.vrk.fi.
  22. Encyclopedia: Alford T. Welch . Ahmad S. Moussalli . Gordon D. Newby . Muḥammad . The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World . John L. Esposito . Oxford University Press . Oxford . 2009 . The Prophet of Islam was a religious, political, and social reformer who gave rise to one of the great civilizations of the world. From a modern, historical perspective, Muḥammad was the founder of Islam. From the perspective of the Islamic faith, he was God's Messenger (rasūl Allāh), called to be a "warner," first to the Arabs and then to all humankind. . usurped . https://web.archive.org/web/20170211050118/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e0550 . 11 February 2017 .
  23. Web site: After a 26- year legal battle, Canada boots convicted terrorist Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad | Brantford Expositor.
  24. News: China sets rules on beards, veils to combat extremism in Xinjiang. Shepherd. Christian. 30 March 2017. Reuters. 11 December 2019. Blanchard. Ben. https://web.archive.org/web/20191221060423/https://www.reuters.com/article/china-xinjiang-int-idUSKBN1710DD. 2019-12-21. live.
  25. News: Hernandez. Javier C.. 25 April 2017. China bans 'Muhammad,' 'Jihad' as baby names in Muslim region. The Seattle Times. The New York Times.
  26. Web site: China Issues Ban on Many Muslim Names in Xinjiang . 2022-06-12 . VOA . en.
  27. Web site: 2017-04-27 . China bans list of Islamic names in restive Xinjiang region . 2022-06-12 . AP NEWS . en.
  28. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1015790/PAK_CPIN_Ahmadis.pdf Country Policy and Information Note Pakistan: Ahmadis
  29. https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/171759.pdf Pakistan
  30. Web site: Amid bullets and 'blasphemy', Pakistan's Ahmadis struggle on . 2022-06-12 . www.aljazeera.com.

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