More Olivers than Mohammeds were born in 2013

Last Friday, the BBC published an article claiming:

'The UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) says Mohammed was the most common name parents gave to baby boys in England and Wales in 2013'

This might have surprised anyone who read a separate BBC article last month, which reported that Oliver became the most popular name for baby boys in 2013. Based on official ONS figures, Mohammed was ranked 23rd. While there were 2,887 boys born in England and Wales named Mohammed, more than twice as many (6,949) were named Oliver.

The ONS counts different spellings of similar names separately in its rankings. However, by combining variations of Mohammed (including the 3,499 Muhammads and 1,059 Mohammads born in 2013) it's possible to produce a figure that puts it in first place.

We think this is what the BBC have done in this case, as their article also references Norwegian figures that combine various spellings of Mohammed to make it the favourite name for baby boys in Oslo.

We're getting in touch with the BBC to ask them to clarify that the name Mohammed was not the most common in England and Wales—as they rightly reported in the first place.

In the meantime, to discover some interesting baby names trends take a look at this infographic published by ONS.