‘Mohammed’ Tops Baby List in Israel
The Muslim name Mohammed was the most popular baby name last year in Israel.
Although Israel has an overwhelming Jewish majority, Mohammed is used most often because Arabs tend to choose traditional names--especially that of the prophet--while Jews use a wider range of modern, secular and biblical names.
Of 101,000 babies born in 1991, 1,535 were named for the prophet Mohammed, the daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said Friday, citing Interior Ministry statistics.
next in popularity was Daniel, named for a Jewish prophet, chosen for 963 babies. Third was Ahmed, a variation of Mohammed, followed by the secular Jewish name Tal.
About 4.1 million Jews and 900,000 Arabs live in Israel. Last year, 71,000 babies were born to Jewish parents and 30,000 to Arabs.
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