Mohammed was the most popular first name for boys born in Berlin in 2018, study reveals
- Mohammed was in the 10 most popular boy names in six of Germany’s 16 states
- It was 24th on the list in Germany as a whole when middle names were included
- The study of baby names was carried out by Association for German Language
Mohammed was the most popular first name for baby boys in Berlin last year, it has emerged.
The Association for German Language revealed that the name was among the ten most popular in six of the country’s 16 states.
As well as the state of Berlin it featured near the top of the list in Berlin, Hamburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland and Hesse in the 2018 figures.
In Germany as a whole it was 24th on the list, when its various spellings and use in children’s middle names were added together.
According to the Association for German Language, Mohammed was the most popular first name for baby boys (stock photo) in Berlin in 2018
In Berlin it jumped from sixth to first place as the most popular boy’s name, ahead of Louis and Emil.
The Association’s managing director Andrea Ewels has previously said the name Mohammed’s rise was ‘of course related to the wave of immigration’.
She said last year that it could enter the ten most popular baby names in the country by 2021 or 2022.
More than one million Middle Eastern and North African migrants have entered Germany since Angela Merkel threw the country’s doors open in 2015.
Across the country Ben was the most popular first name for boys while Emma came top of the list for girls.
Paul, Leon, Noah and Louis or Luis were the next-highest ranked for parents’ sons, followed by Jonas, Elias, Henry or Henri, Felix, and Lukas or Lucas.
For girls, Hanna or Hannah was the second-most popular, followed by Mia, Sophia or Sofia, and Emilia.
The first names Lina, Mila, Ella, Klara or Clara, and Anna completed the top ten for newborn girls.
Language experts said parents in the north and east of Germany states were more likely to exhibit names from their ‘grandparents’ generation’.
They included Mathilda, Frieda, Ida and Greta for girls, and Karl, Oskar, Anton, Jakob and Theo for boys.
More than 65,000 different baby names were recorded in the study.