Mohammad most popular name in London in 2012

Muhammad is now the most popular male newborn name in London and the second most popular baby boy name in Britain, figures from Britain’s Office for National Statistics (NOS) show.

There were a total 1292 newborns named Mohammad with different spellings in London in 2012.

Meanwhile, 7,139 boys were given Mohammad as their first name last year that is only 29 behind Harry, which had the top occurrence.

This is while a total 729,674 babies born in 2012 were given 64,000 different names.

There are claims that the high frequency of the Muslim name – after the name of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) – is linked with the rising number of Asian migrants in Britain and in London.

Official figures show Indians are now the biggest foreign-born group in London accounting for almost nine percent of all foreign-born residents who constitute 37 percent of the three-million-strong population of the city.

This comes as earlier in May, ONS said one in ten under-25 people in Britain are Muslim, who, based on the 2011 census, comprise five percent of the total British population.