Muhammad

Muhammad, also spelled Muhammed, Muhamad, Mohammad, Mohammed, Mahammad, Mohamad, Mohamed or in a variety of other ways, is an Arabic given male name meaning 'Praiseworthy'. The name comes from the passive participle of the Arabic verb (حَمَّدَ), meaning 'to praise', which itself comes from the triconsonantal Semitic root Ḥ-M-D. Believed to be the most popular name in the world, by 2014 it was estimated to have been given to 150 million men and boys. The name is banned for newborn children in the Xinjiang region of China since 2017, as well as for the Ahmadi community in Pakistan. Lexicology The name is the standard, primary transliteration of the Arabic given name, , that comes from the Arabic passive participle of ḥammada, praise, and further from triconsonantal Semitic root Ḥ-M-D (praise); hence praised, or praiseworthy. However, its actual pronunciation differs colloquially, for example, in Egyptian Arabic: , while in exclusively religious contexts, talking about Islam: . The name has one of the highest numbers of English spelling variants in the world. Other Arabic names from the same root include Mahmud, Ahmed, Hamed, Tahmid and Hamid.