Culture Shock: Muhammad the Tenth Most Popular U.S. Baby Name for 2019

According to the experts at Baby Center, the name Muhammad is now one of the 10 most popular names for American baby boys. While the website makes no claim about how many of these babies are Arab in origin, the shocking rise in popularity for this name can only mean that Islamic influence is gaining traction in the United States. For this to be the first year for Muhammad to crack the top ten and also the first year that two female Muslims joined the House of Representatives, you would have to be blind to not see the demographic change underway.

From the Washington Examiner:

Two Arabic names were included in the top names, with Aaliyah climbing into the top 10 for baby girls, according to a list compiled by Baby Center. The website, which touts itself as the “world’s number one digital parenting resource,” with seven in 10 expecting mothers in the United States visiting the site last year, created the list by asking 600,000 of its users what they named their child. Both Muhammad and Aaliyah were ranked 10 out of the list of 100 names.

Other top 10 boy names included Liam, Jackson, Noah, and Aiden. Top girl names included Olivia, Sophia, Ava, and Amelia.

The Baby Center’s list differs from the annual list constructed by the Social Security Administration. According to their data, Mohammad was ranked as the 345th most popular baby name in 2018. The name has grown in recent years, however. In 2000, Mohammad was the 620th most popular name.

The disparity between the Baby Center’s data and the Social Security Administration’s list could be because the Baby Center eliminated similar spellings of names, such as Mohammad, Mohammed, or Muhammad, while the administration does not.

According to Baby Center’s editor-in-chief, Linda Murray, the result did not come as a surprise. In an interview with The Sun, she said, “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.”

According to the Pew Research Center, Americans should prepare for names like Muhammad to grow ever more common. Islam is set to become the second-largest religion in the U.S. by 2040; the demographic chroniclers estimate that Muslims will account for 8.1 million American residents by the midpoint of the century.

Hooray, unrestrained immigration…