Muhammad
in the Israeli Story
Muhammad is the most common first name in Israel.
The table of the most common first names given to babies born in the State of Israel is published every year. In the name ranking, the name "Muhammad" is in first place, with a number much higher than the names David and Joseph that follow it by a significant margin.
Again and again, for many years, and also cumulatively, it is the most common—since the establishment of the state until it reached seventy-five years old, about 120,000 Israeli parents have chosen to name their son: Muhammad. All these parents are Israeli citizens, Muslim by religion, and all of them belong to the country's Arab minority population.
This is, most likely, the only ranking where Arabs are in first place. In other areas, such as: education and schooling, economy and standard of living, politics and law—they are in the middle or at the bottom of the table.
This is also a statistical reminder for anyone who tells the Israeli story:
there are about two million Muslim Arabs living within the Green Line borders, and Muhammad and Ahmad and Fatima and Jana are part of the story.
They have a respectable representation in the Knesset and representation in employment sectors. Among them: construction workers and doctors, clerks and pharmacists, handymen and accountants. Saleswomen and lawyers. Paramedics and police officers. CEOs and heads of non-profit organizations. Dishwashers and shift managers. Social workers and mechanics.
They are Israeli citizens holding a blue (Israeli) identity card. They pay income tax and national insurance. They vote in elections, receive state health services (through a health fund "Kupat Holim"), hold a driver's license from the Ministry of Transport. They have a club card for the major retail chains in Israel, they have a cellphone from Pelephone or Cellcom (Israel). They have WhatsApp groups and a Facebook profile. You see them driving on the country's roads, shopping in malls and vacationing in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Eilat and the Dead Sea.
The Muslim Arabs are a minority, they are a sector, and they are not equal to the Jews, and they are ranked low in many statistical tables... but they number about two million men and women, boys and girls—and all of them are an official part of Israeli society.
The Israeli story, which is written in Hebrew, deals mainly with everything related to its being a Jewish state.
It includes Jewish holidays, traditional foods from Jewish communities in Europe or North Africa. It has prominent foundations, such as: a Jewish people's history of thousands of years, the Ingathering of Exiles of Jews from all corners of the world, the IDF, the Declaration of Independence, the Holocaust and Revival, exile and redemption.
The two million Arabs have a different story. A different narrative.
Their narrative is opposed to the Jewish narrative, and you can read about it extensively here on Wikipedia.
A deep chasm is opened between the two peoples who live here house next to house, street next to street, community next to community. The chasm separates the stories, the religions, the customs and traditions, the ways of life.
Names and family names are part of the abyssal differences—the Muslim Arabs live within a more tribal, clan-based, conservative framework. It is customary for them to stick to uniform names out of respect for the religion and its symbols, without diversifying too much.
Among the Jews, there are many currents and sub-currents that have no common denominator except their Jewishness. A small handful of them are loyal to the tradition of passing names down from generation to generation.
All the others are free from the rigid tradition and see the naming as a matter belonging to the personal and private domain of each family. Among them are parents who choose to give their children popular names for their time, and others who prefer the unusual names.
There are those who choose to give their children a name that has an international sound that is heard well in other languages, and there are those who choose a name from the Bible and other Jewish sources—and these, like those, diversify the list of Israeli names from the Jewish sector, and there is no single name in it that can compete with Muhammad for first place.
For more on common names in Israel—see the link here.
Historical bit
Since the establishment of the state in 1948, and for about sixty years, Israelis were not exposed to the information that Muhammad is the most common name in Israel. This information causes discomfort to many Jewish citizens of Israel. They didn't want to know, and the establishment didn't really want to let them know.
The table of common names itself has, and continues to, arouse interest, since forever. It reflects moods and social situations, and it is good material for academic research, for books, for posts and blogs on the internet. The media makes a spicy story out of it and finds a witty headline and a creative graphic illustration for it.
The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) understands well the significance of the table, and the interest it arouses. Every year, until 2014, they provided the spicy goods to their target audience as they understood they wanted it: with clear headlines that referred to the Jewish names as "the Israeli names."
The media outlets that quoted the CBS headlines to the general Israeli public followed suit.
The CBS, and anyone who mentioned the son Muhammad and the daughter Fatima, downplayed them, and only mentioned in passing that these were the common names in the Arab sector. Without emphasizing the fact that Muhammad is the most common name among all boys born in Israel, and Fatima is ranked high in the name ranking for girls.
And then, the Haaretz newspaper raised the question, why is this so?
A public discourse on the matter was aroused, and since then, the CBS has balanced the table and the headlines and conclusions from it. So do most of the media outlets. And yet, there are still those who downplay the names of the Arab sector.
Bottom line: in the 75th year of the State of Israel, David and Joseph are considered more than Muhammad. Fairly or unfairly. It depends on whom you ask and what their social and party affiliation is.
This is part of "The Israeli Story 1948-2025" project.
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