12.20.2007

Maybe Not Quite As Scary As It Sounds

I read the headline for this story and it sounded alarming:

Mohammed now second most popular boys' name in Britain

However, the story notes that that #2 rating includes all of the variant spellings of the name. The graphic accompanying the story showed that there were no other Islamic-sounding names on the boys' names list, and none at all on the girls' names list. It's not as if half of the kids were walking around in turbans and headscarves. It just shows that British Muslims are rather predictable when it comes to naming their sons.

Biggest surprise: The #1 name for baby boys in Britain is Jack. Not John, with Jack as a nickname, but Jack. I guess that the Pirates of the Caribbean movies must have been really popular over there. ("That's CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow!")

And Alfie is #10? Not Alfred, but Alfie? What's it all about?