Here are two recent sets of name rankings out of the United Arab Emirates.
First: In mid-2013, the UAE’s Ministry of Health released “year to date” baby name rankings topped by Mariam/Fatima and Mohammed:
Girl Names (babies in UAE, 2013)
- Mariam (tie)
- Fatima (tie)
- Aiysha
- Sara
Boy Names (babies in UAE, 2013)
- Mohammed
- Abdullah
- Ahmed
- Ali
- Khalid
- Saeed
- Omar
- Rashid
Second: Earlier this month, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) of Dubai — one of the 7 emirates in the UAE — released lists of popular girl names and boy names according to a survey of school registration records. I’m not sure what age range the records covered, but these rankings were also topped by Maryam and Mohammed:
Girl Names (children in Dubai, 2015)
- Maryam
- Sara/Sarah
- Fatima/Fatma
- Ayesha
- Noor
Boy Names (children in Dubai, 2015)
- Mohammed
- Ali
- Omar
- Ahmed/Ahmad
- Abdulla/Abdullah
One Dubai student named Mohammed was quoted as saying, “It is common to see four or five students share Mohammed as their first name in a class of 25 to 30 students. We usually get called by our second name.”
(I wonder where Hamad fell on these lists…?)
Sources: Mohammed most popular name for boys, The baby names that Dubai happens to loves the most
Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Arab Emirates (public domain)