Mohammed, Aaliyah break into top 10 US baby names in 2019
Mohammed has bumped Mason off the top 10 names for baby boys in the US, according to the most recent US poll.
2 min read
The latest poll merges all spellings of Mohammed, putting it into the top 10 [Getty]
For the first time in history, Mohammed has broken into the top 10 names for baby boys in the US, according to data from parenting firm BabyCenter, which releases an annual tally of the most popular name trends.
Meanwhile for baby girls, Aaliyah - both a Hebrew and Arabic name meaning "ascending" - has climbed into the top 10 for the first time.
Mohammed has long been ascending the annual ranking, with part of the reason it reached number 10 being the company's combining of the name's various spellings.
"While non-Muslim families have a seemingly limitless range of possible names to choose from, tradition is still very important for Muslim families, including the custom of naming a son after the Prophet," BabyCenter said on the release of its list on Wednesday.
The parenting firm highlighted that while Social Security data shows Mohammed climbed from 620 in 2000 to 345 in 2018, it would rank even higher if the agency also merged its variant spellings.
Mohammed went up 29 percent in popularity in the past year according to BabyCenter, kicking Mason off the top 10.
Meanwhile Aaliyah bumped another Arabic-origin name, Layla, off the girls' top 10.
Muslim Americans joked about the poll on social media.
Journalist Siraj Hashmi tweeted: "Habibis, it's happening," while commentator Imraan Siddiqi joked: "we takin over".
Mohammed broke into the top 100 of US baby names for boys in 2013 and has since been on a continuous upwards trajectory.
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