Mohammed Was the Most Popular Israeli Baby Name in 2014
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Mohammed was the most popular name in Israel in 2014.
Some 2,650 Mohammeds were born in Israel in 2014, the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics said in a report released Sunday.
The second most popular name for a boy was Noam, with 1,600 baby boys, though according to the report some 400 girls also were named Noam.
The other nine most popular boys names were Ori/Uri, David, Yousef, Eitan, Itay, Ariel, Daniel, Yonatan and Moshe.
The most popular name for a girl was Noa, with 1,478 newborns, followed by Tamar, Shira, Maya, Yael, Adele, Talia, Avigail, Ayala and Sara.
For Muslim children, the most popular names after Mohammed or Ahmed were Yusuf, Omar, Abed, Adam, Ali, Ibrahim, Mahmoud, Amir and Khaled. The most popular Muslim girls name was Maryam, as well as Jana, Lian, Malak, Alin, Lyn and Nur.
Eitan rose in popularity from 10th place in 2013 to fifth last year, likely in part to Operation Protective Edge in Gaza during the summer of 2014 known as Mivtza Tzuk Eitan in Hebrew.
Meanwhile, 209 baby boys were named Ovadia in 2014, up from 117 in 2013, the year Rabbi Ovadia Yosef died. Some 36 boys were named Ovadia in 2012.
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
— Alyssa Katz, editor-in-chief
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
