When it comes to the name Mohammed, Mohamad, Muhammad - no matter how it's spelled - we all know someone who knows someone who knows some guy whose name matches that of the Muslim prophet. After all, it is one of the most common names in the world.
Apparently, it's no different in the United States. BabyCenter, an interactive parenting website, compiled a list of the top names in 2019 ... and Muhammad snatched the tenth spot in the list. This is the first time the name appears in the top 10. Two years ago, the name ranked No. 14 on the list and has jumped four spots since.
"Muhammad's been rising on BabyCenter top baby name lists around the world, so we knew it would soon break into the U.S. top 10," Linda Murray, BabyCenter's global editor in chief, said in a press statement.
"Muslim families often choose Muhammad for firstborn sons to honor the prophet and bring blessings to the child. The name also has multiple spellings, and that helps a name get into the top 10."
Arabic names are on the rise in the U.S. this year as highlighted by the parenting network; both Muhammed (Arabic for praise) and Aaliyah (Arabic for exalted) both secured a spot in the top 10 this year.
The popularity of the name Muhammad in the U.S. has increased dramatically since 1995 as highlighted in the graph below. The name first entered the top 100 in 2013 and its popularity has only been climbing since.
The online parenting platform concluded these results after compiling the names of babies born to about 600,000 registered users in the U.S. over the course of 2019. It then combined names that sound the same but are spelled differently (such as Mohamed and Muhammad) to see just how popular the name is in the country.
But it doesn't seem to be popular among right-wing Islamophobes in the country. Many Twitter users called the name's popularity "worrying" and "creepy" because that's how bad the Islamophobia is. So much so that a name feels like a threat.