Muhammad (name)

Muhammad (Arabic: مُحَمَّد, romanized: Muḥammad) is an Arabic given male name, literally meaning 'Praiseworthy'. The name comes from the passive participle of the Arabic verb ḥammada (حَمَّدَ), meaning 'to praise', which itself comes from the triconsonantal Semitic root Ḥ-M-D. It is reported to be the most popular name in the world, by 2014 it was estimated to have been given to 150 million men and boys.[2] It is banned in the Xinjiang region of China.[3]

Muhammad
Pronunciation
  • /moʊˈhæməd/
  • /moʊˈhɑːməd/
  • /muːˈhæməd/
  • /muːˈhɑːməd/[1]
  • /moʊˈhæmɛd/
  • /moʊˈhɑːmɛd/
  • /məˈhæməd/
  • /məˈhæmɪd/
  • Arabic: [mʊˈħæm.mæd] (listen), [moˈħæm.mæd]
  • Egyptian Arabic: [mæˈħæm.mæd]
  • Persian: [mohæmˈmæd]
  • Turkish: [muˈham.med]
  • Urdu: [mʊˈhəm.məd]
GenderMale
Origin
Word/nameArabic
Meaning"praised", "worthy of all praises"
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, Mochamad, Mohamud, Mokhmad, Magomad, Mukhammad, Md.

Lexicology

The name Muḥammad is the standard, 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].[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
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, Pashto, DariMohammad

Māmad (مامد)

 Mamad (Nickname)
Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, ThailandMalay, Indonesian, variousMuhammadMohammad, Muhamad, Mochamad, Mohamad, Muhd, Mohd, Md
IndonesiaJavanese, Madureseꦩꦠ꧀ (Mat)ꦩꦺꦴꦏꦩꦠ꧀ (Mokamat)
Bangladesh, IndiaBengali, Assamese, Sylhetiমুহাম্মাদ (Muhammad)মুহাম্মদ (Muhammad), মুহম্মদ (Muhammad), মোহাম্মাদ (Mohammad), মোহাম্মদ (Mohammad), মোহম্মদ (Mohammad)
Pakistan, IndiaUrduMuhammad (محمد)Mohammad
TurkeyTurkishMehmetMuhammet, Mehmed, Memet, Mehemmed
AzerbaijanAzerbaijaniMəmmədMəhəmməd, Məhməd, Mamed
UzbekistanUzbekMuhammad (Муҳаммад)Mahmud, Mahamat, Mahammad
KurdistanKurdishMhamad (محەمەد)Memed, حەمە
Albania, Kosovo, North MacedoniaAlbanianMuhameti
Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnianMuhamedMuhammed
United KingdomEnglishMuhammadMuhammed, Mohammad, Mohammed
KazakhstanKazakhМұхаммед (Mukhammed)Махамбет (Makhambet)
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 Ma (surname))穆罕默德 Mùhǎnmòdé
Uyghurمۇھەممەد (Muhammad)Mehmet
IsraelHebrewמוחמד‎ (Mukhammad/ Muchammad)
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.[6] 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.

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.[7] 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).[8][9]

Mohammed and Mohamed were the most popular baby name in département Seine-Saint-Denis (2002, 2008)[10] and in Marseilles (2007, 2009), France.[11] Similarly, since 2008 it has been the most popular baby boy name in Brussels and Antwerp, Belgium's most Muslim-populated cities.[12]

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.[13]

In 2009 Muhammad, the most common spelling variant, was ranked 430th in the US.[14] According to the Social Security Administration, Mohammad was ranked 589th, Mohammed 633rd, and Muhammad the 639th most popular first name for newborns in 2006.[15] 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.[16][17]

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.[18]

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.[19][20] it is worth noticing that approximately 60% of people named Muhammad live in Pakistan, Middle East and North Africa.

Given name

Mamadou

Mochamad

Mochammad

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

Mohammed

Muhammad

Patronymics

ibn

bint

Derived names

Legality

China

In 2017 legislation made it illegal to give children names that the Chinese government deemed to "exaggerate religious fervor”.[22][23] This prohibition included a ban on naming children Muhammad.[23]

See also

Notes

    References
    1. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th edition
    2. Dugan, Emily (15 August 2014). "Most popular baby names: The top 20 boys and girls names in England and Wales". Independent. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
    3. Hernández, Javier C. (2017-04-25). "China Bans 'Muhammad' and 'Jihad' as Baby Names in Heavily Muslim Region". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
    4. "Muhammad- Dictionary"
    5. Humanism, Culture, and Language in the Near East: Asma Afsaruddin, A. H. Mathias Zahniser - 1997 p 389
    6. "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.
    7. Arnett, George (1 December 2014). "Is Muhammad the most popular boy's name in Britain?". the Guardian. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
    8. "Baby names for boys in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics".
    9. "Baby names for boys in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
    10. "Insee − Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques" (PDF). Insee. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
    11. "Les parents marseillais ont craqué pour Inès et Mohamed". 24 February 2008. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
    12. 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.
    13. "JTW News - "Muhammad" Most Popular Among Danish Muslims". Retrieved 2 November 2018.
    14. http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/babyname.cgi; searched for Mohamed
    15. "Popular Baby Names". www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
    16. 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.
    17. "Muhammad - Name Meaning, What does Muhammad mean?". www.thinkbabynames.com. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
    18. 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.
    19. "Digi- ja väestötietovirasto".
    20. "Digi- ja väestötietovirasto". verkkopalvelu.vrk.fi. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
    21. Alford T. Welch; Ahmad S. Moussalli; Gordon D. Newby (2009). "Muḥammad". In John L. Esposito (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. 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.
    22. Shepherd, Christian; Blanchard, Ben (30 March 2017). "China sets rules on beards, veils to combat extremism in Xinjiang". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2019-12-21. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
    23. Hernandez, Javier C. (25 April 2017). "China bans 'Muhammad,' 'Jihad' as baby names in Muslim region". The Seattle Times. The New York Times.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.