By IRNA
London : Mohammed and its alternative spellings was the second most popular name given to boys born in England and Wales this year, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The national ranking show that Jack was the most common name for the 13th year running for newly-born baby boys followed by Thomas and Oliver, while the most frequent spelling of Mohammed was list at 17th, up five places on 2006.
But taking into account other optional spellings, including Mohammad, Muhammed and Mohamad, the name was given to 6,368 boys in 2007, just behind 6,772 for Jack, but more than the 5,803 for Thomas and 5,657 for Oliver.
Boys being named Mohammed have increased by 70 per cent since 2000 and the popularity in the UK is underlined among Britain’s two million Muslims, who make up less than three per cent of the country’s population.
Among baby girls, Grace has become the most popular name, moving up from second place in 2006 and 7th place in 2005, followed by Ruby, overtaking Olivia, which has fallen back from top place last year.
But there was no one Muslim name that is so prominent among girls, with Jasmine in 33rd place, Sarah in 65th, Zara in 69th and Layla 84th, which are also used by others.