A newborn baby at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, Oct. 29, 2018. Photo courtesy of Hadas Parush/Flash90.
JNS
Muhammad and Avigail topped the list of the most popular names for babies in Israel over the last year, the Population and Immigration Authority announced on Tuesday, Dec 231. 1,740 newborn boys were given the name Muhammad, which reigns supreme as the number one boys’ name, followed by Yosef/Yousef (1,201), with Adam a close third (1,196.)
One in eight Muslim boys in Israel bears the name of the founder of Islam, down from one in six two decades ago.
Ariel, which means “lion of God” in Hebrew, was the most popular boys’ name in the Jewish community (1,013).
Avigail was the top name among girls, with 1,156 babies named after King David’s wife, followed by Miriam/Mariam (1,015) and Tamar (841).
181,000 babies were born in Israel in 2024, the Population and Immigration Authority reports.
About 20% of Israel’s population of 10 million are Arabs.
