Drum roll please. . . For the first time in American history, “Muhammad” is in the top ten of the 100 most popular baby names in the US! (Tweet this.)
I’m curious how this makes you feel and what you think about it.
Maybe. . .
“I knew it! They really are taking over!”
“I’d better learn how to spell it!”
“More Muslims to love!”
“It’s time to move to the mountains.”
If you tend to be a little skeptical, you might be thinking, “Hmmm, I wonder if that’s really true.” I wouldn’t blame you. I’m skeptical of a lot of things. The data for this comes from “nearly 600,000 BabyCenter parents who shared their baby’s name with (the site) in 2019.”
While this benchmark reflects the growth of Islam in the U.S. due to immigration, birth and conversion, it might not be as big a deal as it appears.
The #10 spot on BabyCenter.com’s list was reached by aggregating the various spellings of Muhammad. On the Social Security Administration’s site, the highest spot for any specific spelling is #345.
There’s also the reality that while a relatively high percentage of Muslim parents name their son Muhammad, for the non-Muslim population there is an increase in the diversity of baby boy names.
Finally, for comparison’s sake (and maybe a little comfort!), fifteen of the top thirty names on the Social Security Administration’s site are either overtly biblical or at least Christian-ish!
What do I think about this data point? More Muslims to love and talk about Jesus with. And, as my Facebook friend says, a growing likelihood that a Mediterranean restaurant will open near me!
What I don’t feel is fear or resentment. God’s got this. More than “got it,” he’s using this for the expansion of his Kingdom. That might not look just as we’d imagined (It never does for me!), but, ah, will it be good.
How about you? Please comment below.
Hi Shane.
thanks for this email that you send. There have been helpful tips and ideas along the way!
I reach out to Muslims and encourage others to do the same. I was thinking of sharing the statistic you shared from your recent What’ll We Name the Baby?” blast.
But I want to make sure I’m understanding correctly since I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer. The text of your article says, “…’Muhammad’ is in the top ten of the 100 most popular names in the U.S.”. (It’s the “in the U.S.” portion I have a question about).
I went to the article you referenced ( https://www.babycenter.com/top-baby-names ) and clicked on the name Muhammad and it took me to this page ( https://www.babycenter.com/baby-names-muhammad-463135.htm ). Scrolling down on that page a bit, there is a chart that lists popularity of the name over time in two categories: U.S. Population and BabyCenters users. The graph seems to show a wide disparity between the two categories, with the later indicating greater popularity.
Back to your email. It quotes the article, saying that the data comes from “nearly 600,000 BABYCENTER PARENTS who shared their baby’s name with (the site) in 2019.”
Anyway, I’m wondering, can we really say that ‘Muhammad’ is in the top ten of the 100 most popular names IN THE U.S. or is it more accurate to say that ‘Muhammad’ is in the top ten of the 100 most popular names among people who use the BabyCenter site, which shows a much higher popularity. (I wonder if this can be accounted by the possibility that there are people in other countries using the site?)
Anyway, like I said, I’m not to bright when it comes to stuff like this, so I’m this isn’t some kind of “gotcha!” message. It’s more of a, “I would like to use this stat, but am anticipating questions I know I’ll get” kind of email. (Also, please don’t interpret any CAPS above as shouting. I simply don’t have the ability to bold or italicize in this format).
I hope you hear my heart in this. I’m grateful for folks like you, doing the work you do!!!!
Hello Friend,
Thank you for reading Muslim Connect and taking the time to comment. I appreciate that.
In regard to statistical integrity: You’re likely sharper than I am! I try to avoid taking a strong stand on numbers that are not super plain and easy (for me!) to grasp. You may be right that I over-stated the “in the U.S.” aspect given that there’s no evidence that babycenter.com readers are only from the US. If so, here’s a CNN article making the same mistake! https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/06/us/muhammad-top-10-baby-names-trnd/index.html
I appreciate you kindly pushing on some of this, and am happy that you do so because you want to use the info in your mobilization efforts. My main point/effort in this email was to help us all consider how we respond to information like this. Do we see a growing threat or a growing opportunity for Jesus to love people through us.
Thank you again. And feel free to follow up on this. The conversation would be beneficial to me.
The Social Security Administration provides a webpage where you can see the most popular boys and girls names any chosen year but their most recent listing is for 2018, not 2019- https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/ (scroll down to choose the year and number of results). Muhammad was listed as the 345th most popular name in the 2018 listing.
Whoops, Mohamed also comes up as the 454th most popular so perhaps combined they would rank somewhere in the 200s?
Great information and talking point. One way to share our outreach ministry. Keep your weekly news coming!
Thank you, Glenn. I appreciate you and your friendship.
Four years ago, the Canadian govt welcomed 25 thousand Syrian refugees to relocate to Canada. Our group of church friends were one of the sponsoring groups to commit to care for one of these families. In February, 2016, our (Muslim) family of 5 walked through passport control and through a translator we’d brought told us, ‘We’ve left our family and so now, you are our family’. Three sons, the youngest, 4 then, is Mohamad. Now 8, to us he’s not part of a huge cohort of Mohamads in our land, but a delightful engaging little boy who with his family of 5, have become ‘family’ to a large number of us. I’m now a senior and I count this opportunity God gave many, many Christians in the western world, to welcome the stranger in his name, one of the top privileges in my life.
Wow, Charmaine, that is one of the most beautiful things I’ve read in a while. Thank you so much for sharing it. I’m deeply encouraged.
I’m also sorry for the many wonderful Canadians who perished in the Ukraine Airlines crash. May God give much grace to those who are suffering today.
Abraham, Jehoshaphat, Jacob, Muhammad, Juan, Xiang, what is in a name? We are all children of a living God! Should we not try to lose the stigmas associated with the monickers of birth. Puerto Rican, Mexican, Muslim, Polish, and the list goes on. I am Of Irish, Scottish and English origin. At one time there were signs posted that read “Irish Need Not Apply”. Did that stop parents from naming their children Michael, Stephen, Andrew or Johnathon? Thank the good Lord it didn’t! Muslims are just the latest group of people to hate without reason! Why? They attacked the country, sure. So did the Caucasian British in 1776. Do we hate them? I think not. All Muslims are not evil. They have been given a bad wrap, just like every other “ethnic” group that comes to America. Take Jesus’ advice and “love them all like I love the church.”