Muhammad

If you have spent any time looking at baby name statistics lately, you will already know this one. Muhammad was the number one boy's name in England & Wales in 2024. Top of the list, ahead of every other name parents chose that year.

It is an Arabic name, and its meaning is as warm as it is fitting: praiseworthy. That is a lovely thing to give a child, a quiet vote of confidence stitched into the name before he has done anything at all except arrive.

A name carried with deep respect

For many families, the name carries profound significance as the name of Muhammad, the Arabian political leader and founder of Islam. Choosing it can be a way of honouring that, which goes a long way to explaining why it is treasured by so many parents.

The name has a familiar ring in sporting circles too, thanks to Muhammad Ali, the American boxer.

A passport full of stamps

England & Wales may lead the way, but Muhammad is a well-travelled name. It sits at number 26 in Canada, 35 in Australia and 75 in New Zealand. Further down the lists, it appears at 95 in Catalonia, 291 in France, 310 in the United States and 441 in Mexico City.

That spread is part of its quiet strength. Muhammad is recognisable across continents and languages, yet in many of those places it still feels distinctive rather than everywhere. It is a name that will be understood wherever life takes him, which is no small gift for a child who might one day study, work or fall in love a very long way from home.

Mo, and the brothers and sisters

The go-to nickname is Mo: short, cheerful and easy to call across a football pitch, a supermarket or a busy kitchen at teatime. Plenty of families stick firmly with the full name, too, and it sounds wonderful said in full, every syllable intact.

As for siblings, Muhammad sits naturally alongside names like:

• Ali and Ibrahim for brothers
• Fatima and Aisha for sisters

Together they make a set that feels rooted, gentle and full of meaning, the kind of names that sound just as right at a family celebration as they do being read out from a school register on the first day of term.

There is also something reassuring about a name that so many parents have arrived at independently. Being number one doesn't make a name ordinary; it means a great many people, each agonising over the same decision, came to the same warm conclusion.

Of course, even with a name this beloved, the choosing is rarely simple. There are spellings to settle, grandparents to consult, middle names to debate and a surprising number of opinions from people who aren't even having the baby. But if you are looking for a name that is meaningful, much loved and quite literally praiseworthy, Muhammad is a very fine place for the search to end.