A survey conducted by a parenting website has declared the name Muhammad to be the most popular name for baby boys in Britain, surpassing previous favourites, Oliver and Jack. The results have fuelled some controversy, because the survey includes various spellings of "Muhammad" in calculating its results.
The online survey by BabyCentre is not an official national census, but does echo figures collected by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which also ranked "Muhammad" number one and included various spellings of the name.
Muhammad jumped 27 spots from last year to claim the top spot on the list of the 100 most popular baby boy names for 2014. The Arabic names Omar, Ali and Ibrahim also made it onto the list for the first time this year.
Sarah Redshaw, managing editor for BabyCentre, told The Guardian: "With the increase of Arabic names plus Aarav, an Indian boys’ name, the top 100...