by Laura Hageman

Created on: November 13, 2007

In the old Christian beliefs naming your child Jesus was considered an insult or a slap in the face to the memory of Jesus. It was disrespectful since there is only one true Jesus. This is not so with Muslims. They believe naming their sons after any prophet but specifically the Prophet Muhammad is an honor and would only be a good effect on the child's character. They name their children Jesus and Abraham as well, but as the Muslims believe Muhammad was the last prophet sent therefore, it is the most honored.

In order to understand why Muhammad is used so frequently you must understand the meaning of the name. The name represents praiseworthy in English. Arabs see the name more than just praiseworthy; however, they see it as a way to get closer to God. Using Muhammad means that the angels will pray with the families that decide to name their child after the Prophet.
There are at least 14 different variations of how Muhammad is spelled which makes it the most popular name in the world. In England, Muhammad runs second to the name Jack when it comes to what parents decide to name their sons. By next year it will rise to number one if it follows the same rate. The Muslim population is three times higher than the non-Muslim population which is part of why Muhammad is so commonly used.
Part of the reason for the variations of Muhammad is that the Arab Muslims uses ad in the ending of the name while non-Arab Muslims typically uses ed in the ending.. For some reason some Muslims have decided to change up the ways they spell Muhammad by using od for the ending. Some examples of spellings are Mohammed (which is the most popular), Mahammad, Muhammed, Mohamad, Mahammed, Mohammad, Mohamed, and Mohamed. The most recent variations are Mohomed, and Muhammod. Ahmed and Hamid are also used to represent Muhammad since they both represent praiseworthiness.
An interesting fact about the name Muhammad is how that there is really only one true spelling of the name in the Arabic language, but when translated to English the spellings differentiate in however the parents wish to spell it. While English parents will name their children with a first and middle name other nationalities will use more than one first name and one middle name. Arabs will have multiple names and it does not matter how many. This is why you may come across someone that uses Muhammad more than once in their name. The more you name your child Muhammad the more blessings you will receive.

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