A newly released list of the most popular boys’ and girls’ names in Britain shows Muhammad was the top name for baby boys in England and Wales in 2025, a position it has held for the last three straight years.
The list, released by Britain’s Office for National Statistics and based on birth registration data from the last full calendar year, shows 5,957 babies were named Muhammad, almost 2,000 more than second-placed Noah on 4,075.
Leo was in third on 3,278, while Luca, Arthur, Oliver, George, Oscar, Theodore and Freddie made up the rest of the top 10.
Muhammad also occupied first place on the list during every single month last year, and was more popular than in 2024, when it topped the rankings with a total of 5,721.
Alternative spelling Mohammed was in 20th place with 1,712, while Mohammad was in 55th spot with 895 for a combined figure of 8,564 for all three variations – more than double second-placed Noah, and more than Noah and Leo combined.
For girls, the most popular female name was Olivia, given to 2,386 baby girls in England and Wales last year, followed by Lily and Amelia with 2,249 and 2,153 each.
The continued popularity of the name Muhammad in Britain was condemned by Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe, who said it showed how quickly the make-up of Britain’s population was being altered.
“‘Muhammad’ has comfortably topped the list for the most popular boy name for the third year running. You can call me Islamophobic, I really don’t care. This is awful and demonstrates the rapidly changing demographics of our country. Only Restore Britain will fight this,” Mr Lowe said on X.
British Islamic group 5Pillars, named for the five central tenets or “pillars” of Islam, welcomed the news, and noted that Muslim boys’ names Ibrahim, Yusuf and Musa also came in at 48th, 58th and 63rd respectively.
In Australia, Muhammad jumped 30 places to come in at 53rd on the list of the country’s most popular boys’ names in 2025, but was 18th in Victoria and 21st place in New South Wales.
Header image credit: Mohamad azaam (Unsplash).
