Mohammad was once again ranked the most popular name overall given to newborns in Israel in the past year, Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority said this week in its annual report released for the Jewish New Year.
The name was given to 1,949 Israeli-Arab babies in 5782 and was followed by Adam (1,364).
Yosef or Yousef, a name given to Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Israelis, came in third with 1,294 babies receiving it. It was followed by David (1,119) Ariel (1,053), Omer (1,039), Lavi (864), Daniel (828), Rafael (779) and Ori (774).
When it came to baby girls, Avigayil (the Hebraization of Abigail) came top with 993 girls receiving the name. Tamar came in second with 943 and was followed by Yael (797), Noa (740), Sara (739), Mia (733), Adel (657) and Lia (655).
According to data published by the Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics released in August, the most common name overall by a huge margin in Israel’s 74 years of existence is Mohammad, with 115,356 Israel baby boys receiving the name between 1948 and 2021.
That trend is one that has been evident in Europe for some years.
Coming in second in Israel is David, but with 66,415 baby boys given that name, it accounts for just over half the amount of Mohammads.
Twenty percent of Israel’s population is Arab.