A newborn baby in Jerusalem. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
Mohammad has retained the top spot throughout Israel’s 74 year history.
By Debbie Reiss, World Israel News
Mohammad was the most popular name overall given to newborns in Israel in the past year, according to an annual report released by Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority to coincide with Rosh Hashana – the Jewish New Year.
The Muslim name was given to 1,949 Israeli babies, from Israel’s Arab sector, in the Hebrew year of 5782. Mohammad was followed by Adam, which was given to 1,364 baby boys.
Yosef or Yousef, a name popular with both Jews and Muslims, ranked third with 1,294 babies. Then came David (1,119) Ariel (1,053), Omer (1,039), Lavi (864), Daniel (828), Rafael (779) and Ori (774).
Avigayil (the Hebrew pronunciation of Abigail) ranked most popular girl’s name with 993 girls receiving the name. Abigail was followed by Tamar (943), Yael (797), Noa (740), Sara (739), Mia (733), Adel (657) and Lia (655).
According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics released in August, Mohammad has consistently remained Israel’s most popular name since the state’s founding in 1948.
The phenomenon is now commonplace in Europe too, and in Paris the top ten most popular names are all Muslim. In 2019, Mohammad entered the top ten most popular baby names in the U.S., according to BabyCenter.
Omar has denied wrongdoing and described the investigation as political persecution.
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