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Mohammed, The Top English Baby Name

CNN reports that Mohammed reclaimed its place as the most popular name for baby boys born in England and Wales in 2011 - ahead of Harry, in second place, according to data released by the government this week.

The government declared that Harry was the most popular boy's name, but as CNN points out, if you add the five most popular different spellings of Mohammed, that name comes top.

Mohammed is also the most popular boy's name of the past five years for England and Wales, ahead of Oliver and Jack. The popularity of the name comes as Britain's Muslim population is expected to double in the next 20 years.

Mohammed became the most popular boy's name in England in 2009.

Harry, the name of Prince William's younger brother and J.K. Rowling's boy wizard, leaped into second place in 2011, with 7,523 boys given the name, topping the 7,007 Olivers. But the name of the Muslim prophet was given to 7,907 baby boys, according to CNN analysis of Office of National Statistics data. Mohammed, Muhammad and Mohammad were all among the top 100 most popular names, with Muhammed and Mohamed also coming in the top 200.

CNN reports that the 2011 British census had an optional question about religion. Results are expected in November.

The United States is about 0.8% Muslim, with about 2.6 million adherents, the Pew Forum calculates.

Read the full CNN article.

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