UK boy's name
Muhammad
An Arabic masculine name meaning "praiseworthy" or "praised one".
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Muhammad is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Muhammad popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #1, with 5,721 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2024, with 5,721 births.
This profile covers 72,235 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
Muhammad is at its recorded peak in the England and Wales series.
We estimate that about 74,760 living people in the UK are called Muhammad. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Muhammad ranked #1 for boys in England and Wales in 2024, with 5,721 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 2024, when 5,721 boys were registered as Muhammad.
- • Muhammad ranks best in North West in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #1 in 2024.
- • About 74,760 living people in the UK are estimated to have Muhammad as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#1
2024
Births in 2024
5,721
Latest year
Peak year
2024
5,721 births
Estimated living
74,760
2026
Meaning
What does Muhammad mean?
The name Muhammad is an Arabic name derived from the root word ḥ-m-d, which means "to praise" or "to glorify". It is a masculine name that has been used in the Arab world for centuries, originating during the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, who lived in the 6th and 7th centuries CE.
Muhammad was the name of the founder of Islam, who was born in Mecca in 570 CE. The Quran, the holy book of Islam, mentions his name numerous times, and he is considered the final prophet in the Islamic faith. His life and teachings have had a profound impact on the spread of Islam and the development of Islamic culture and civilization.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Muhammad can be found in the Quranic verses and the hadith literature, which are the records of the Prophet's sayings and actions. The name also appears in various historical accounts and biographies of the Prophet Muhammad, written by early Islamic scholars and historians.
Throughout history, many notable figures have borne the name Muhammad. Here are five examples:
1. Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (c. 780 - c. 850 CE), a Persian mathematician, astronomer, and geographer who is considered the father of algebra and the algorithm.
2. Muhammad al-Idrisi (1099 - 1166 CE), an Arab geographer, cartographer, and Egyptologist who created one of the most detailed maps of the world in the 12th century.
3. Muhammad ibn Battuta (1304 - 1369 CE), a Moroccan explorer and scholar who traveled extensively across Africa, Asia, and Europe, documenting his journey in a famous travel narrative.
4. Muhammad Iqbal (1877 - 1938 CE), a philosopher, poet, and politician from British India, who is widely regarded as the spiritual father of the Pakistani nation.
5. Muhammad Ali (1942 - 2016 CE), an American professional boxer, activist, and philanthropist, widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated figures of the 20th century.
The name Muhammad has been widely popular among Muslims throughout history, and it continues to be one of the most commonly used names in Muslim communities around the world today.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Muhammad over time
The chart below shows babies named Muhammad registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Muhammad, the clearest high point is 2024. The latest England and Wales figure is 5,721 births in 2024, compared with 5,721 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Muhammad by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Muhammad was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #3 | 21,991 | 5 |
| 2010s | #15 | 34,002 | 10 |
| 2000s | #52 | 13,969 | 10 |
| 1990s | #94 | 2,273 | 4 |
Geography
Where Muhammad is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Muhammad. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Muhammad ranks best in North West in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #1 in 2024.
Across the UK
Muhammad in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#2 in 2024
51 years of NRS records, 2,906 total registered
Northern Ireland (NISRA)
#154 in 2024
15 years of NISRA records, 92 total registered
Notable bearers
Famous people named Muhammad
-
Muhammad Mokaev
mixed martial arts fighter; amateur wrestler
Russian-English mixed martial artist (born 2000)
2000-
-
Muhammad Ali
boxer
British boxer, born 1996
1996-
-
Muhammad Tawfiq Allawi
politician; civil servant
Iraqi politician (born 1954)
1954-
-
Muhammad Imdad Hussain Pirzada
Islamicist
Shaykh in the Chishti Nizami Sufi Order
1946-
-
Muhammad Abdel-Haleem
orientalist; Islamicist; Africanist
Professor of Islamic studies
1930-
-
Muhammad Mustafa Badawi
literary scholar
Scholar of English and Arabic literature
1925-2012
Related
Names similar to Muhammad
- Matthew 80,931
- Mohammed 74,321
- Max 59,807
- Michael 47,075
- Mason 38,935
- Mohammad 25,910
- Morgan 15,994
- Muhammed 11,527
- Mark 11,336
- Marcus 11,257
- Maxwell 10,006
- Milo 9,555
FAQ
Muhammad: questions and answers
How popular is the name Muhammad in the UK right now?
In 2024, Muhammad was ranked #1 for boys in England and Wales, with 5,721 births registered.
When was Muhammad most popular?
The peak year on record was 2024, with 5,721 babies registered as Muhammad in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Muhammad?
An Arabic masculine name meaning "praiseworthy" or "praised one".
How many people are called Muhammad in the UK?
A total of 72,235 babies have been registered as Muhammad across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 2,906 more in Scotland and 92 in Northern Ireland.
Where is Muhammad most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Muhammad ranks best in North West, where it placed #1 in 2024. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.