Ammon News - AMMAN –– Mohammad was the most popular name for newborns in Jordan last year, according to figures released this week by the Department of Statistics (DoS).

Approximately 13 per cent of baby boys born in the Kingdom in 2009 were named Mohammad, while the name Ahmad was the second-most popular appellation at 6.4 per cent, according to a DoS report released on Monday. The third-most popular name for Jordanian boys was Abdul Rahman, which accounted for 3.4 per cent of registered forenames, it added.

Meanwhile, Rimas, the Arabic word for a type of diamond, topped the list of the most common newborn girl names last year at a rate of 3.2 per cent, followed by Jana (2.8 per cent) and Hala (2.78 per cent).

In 2008, Mohammad overtook traditional choices in the UK such as Jack, Thomas and Daniel to become the number one name in the West Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber, and the North West, as well as London.

According to official figues published in September of last year by the British Office for National Statistics, when various spellings of the Islamic prophet are tallied - including Muhammad, Mohammad, Mohamed and Muhammed - the name is more than twice as popular in London as the city's second-most popular boy’s name, Daniel.

London is not the first European capital to see Mohammad become the number one name for baby boys; the name has also gained the top slot in Brussels, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Oslo, the British Office for National Statistics reported.

By Thuraya Jafari/ Jordan Times