Given name & surname
Muhammad
“praised, commendable, laudable”
Muhammad is a masculine given name from Arabic, meaning “praised, commendable, laudable.” It is used in English, Norwegian Bokmål, Tagalog, Indonesian, and 2 other languages.
Original Arabicمُحَمَّدٌ
Meaning & origin
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Arabic.
How it developed
A transliteration of Arabic مُحَمَّد (“praised, commendable, laudable”); its root is Arabic ح م د.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1929. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Muhammad through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 21,962
- 21,962 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2025
- 1,473 babies
- 2025
- 1,473
- #239 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +31%
- Rising
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 1,473 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 239 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 31.2% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. In 2025, New York had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (360). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 33,698 as a first name in 2020; 20,614 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Muhammad’s family of names
In English usage, Muhammad has a short form in MHD. In English usage, Muhammad shares an earlier linguistic root with Mehmet. In English usage, Muhammad has an alternative spelling in Mohammad.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Muhammad has relatives in 42 languages. Lines run from its Arabic roots to each of them.
Nicknames & forms 115
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Mohamedvariant · English, Norwegian Bokmål
- Mohammadvariant · English, Norwegian Bokmål
- Mohammedvariant · English, Norwegian Bokmål
- Marvariant
- Mamadouvariant
- Mouhamedvariant · English
- Mohamadvariant · Norwegian Bokmål, English
- Muhammedvariant · English, Norwegian Bokmål
Show 52 moreShow fewer
- Mdvariant
- Mehmetvariant · English, Turkish
- Mehmedvariant · Turkish, English
- Mahamadouvariant
- Mahamedvariant · Norwegian Bokmål, English
- Muhamadvariant · English
- Muhamedvariant · English, Norwegian Bokmål
- Mouhamadvariant · English
- Mouhammadvariant · English
- Mohamudvariant · English
- Matvariant
- Movariant
- Mahvariant
- Mavariant
- Mohmedvariant
- Mohmmedvariant
- Mohmadvariant
- Mahammadvariant · English
- Muhhammadlikely variant
- Muhisclipped form · Finnish
- Мехмедvariant · Serbo-Croatian
- Mahomedvariant · English, German
- Mhdshort form · English
- Muhdvariant
- Madvariant
- Mochamadvariant
- Mahmadouvariant
- Mohandvariant
- Mohamodvariant
- Magomedvariant
- Muḥammadvariant · English
- Muħammadvariant · English
- Mathomusvariant · English
- Muhemmadvariant · English
- Muhamutvariant · English
- Muammedvariant · English
- Mouhammedvariant · English
- Mouhametvariant · English
- Mohometvariant · English
- Mohemmetvariant · English
- Mohamutvariant · English
- Mohammatvariant · English
- Mohamitvariant · English
- Moammedvariant · English
- Mehemettvariant · English
- Mehammadvariant · English
- Mehamidvariant · English
- Mahumettvariant · English
- Mahoumetvariant · English
- Mahoumedvariant · English
- Mahommettvariant · English
- Mahommatvariant · English
And 55 more.
Spellings & scripts 13
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 43
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- مُحَمَّدٌArabic
- محمدArabic, sd
- Mouhamadouequivalent
- MehaBosnian
- MehanBosnian
- Mahometusequivalent
- M'hamedequivalent
- Maxamedequivalent
Show 35 moreShow fewer
- Md.equivalent
- મહમદequivalent
- Mawoumetequivalent
- Мухаммедequivalent
- Магометequivalent
- Mọmọduequivalent
- ꠝꠢꠝ꠆ꠝꠖcognate · syl
- MahommCornish
- MahometasLithuanian
- מוחמדHebrew
- ムハンマドJapanese
- MaoméPortuguese
- MaomettoItalian
- Магьамматkum
- MohametoEsperanto
- MahometoEsperanto
- MúhameðIcelandic
- MehoCroatian
- MöxämmädTatar
- MohamedoEsperanto
- MuhamadiSwahili
- Mammetdoublet
- МөхәммәтBashkir
- މުޙައްމަދުdv
- মুহাম্মদBengali
- ముహమ్మద్Telugu
- МуҳаммадTajik
- مەھەممەتUyghur
- MuhammaduHausa
- МамбетKyrgyz
- MəhəmmədAzerbaijani
- ಮುಹಮ್ಮದ್Kannada
- முகமதுTamil
- മുഹമ്മദ്Malayalam
- መሐመድAmharic
See also 5
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Muhammad
- MuhammadArabian political leader and the founder of Islam (c. 570–632)571–632
- Muhammad AliAmerican boxer (1942–2016)
- Akbarthe third and greatest Mughal emperor from 1556 to 16051542–1605
- Ibn Battuta14th century Muslim Maghrebi scholar and explorer1304–1368
- Al-Khwarizmi9th-century Persian mathematician and astronomer780–850
- Al-GhazaliPersian Sunni Muslim scholar and mystic (c.1058–1111)1056–1111
- Hosni MubarakPresident of Egypt from 1981 to 20111928–2020
- Muhammad YunusBangladeshi banker, Nobel Peace Prize recipient and the former Chief Adviser of Bangladeshborn 1940
- Mohammad KhatamiPresident of Iran from 1997 to 2005born 1943
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Muhammad, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Musa
“a savior”
>99% boys
Murad
Murad is a masculine given name from Ottoman Turkish, ultimately from Arabic. It is used in English, Azerbaijani, and Tausug.
>99% boys
Ibrahim
“father of a multitude; father of nations” · “father of a multitude (of nations)”
>99% boys
Hamza
“having great strength”
>99% boys
Marwan
Marwan is a masculine given name from Arabic.
>99% boys
Yusuf
“God will add” · “God shall add”
>99% boys
Amir
“a prince” · “from the treetop”
>99% boys
Cyrus
“a king”
99% boys · 1% girls