- Mohamed deemed the most popular name for boys born in Israel this year
- But official list of most commonly used names failed to include Arabic names
- Authority said Yosef was top and said list reflected interest in Hebrew names
Mohamed
has been revealed as the most popular baby name in Israel – despite
authorities trying to keep it hidden from the annual official list.
The
Population and Immigration Authority has this week published a list of
the 10 most popular boys and girls names of those born in Israel this
year.
However,
it has omitted Arabic baby names from the list, including Mohamed
which should have topped the boys' list and Ahmed which should have
placed ninth.
The Population and Immigration
Authority has published a list of the 10 most popular boys and girls
names of those born in Israel this year but has failed to include Arabic
names including the top choice of Mohamed
Instead,
the authority claims that the most commonly used Israeli boys' names
over the last 12 months were: Yosef, Daniel, Uri, Itai, Omer, Adam,
Noam, Ariel, Eitan, David.
Nowhere
in its statement, which was released ahead of the Jewish New Year, did
it note the fact that Arabic baby names had been withheld.
It lists the most popular girls' name as Tamar, which pushes Noa into second place after spending 14 years in the top spot.
Other
popular girls' names include: Shira, Adele, Talya, Yael, Lian, Miriam,
Maya and Avigayil. Lian, Miriam (Maryam) and Maya are used by both Jews
and Arabs.
However, the authority has come under fire after being accused by Israeli news service Haaretz of omitting Arabic names from the official list of boys' names.
The
news service said several Arab names were statistically more popular
than the ones on the official list - including Mohamed.
The Population and Immigration Authority said its list reflected the media's interest in popular Hebrew names
The Population and Immigration Authority responded by saying the list reflected the media's interest in popular Hebrew names.
It
also said it had no intention of skewing the facts, with
spokesman Sabine Hadad adding: 'There is no plot to deliberately hide
information.'
The authority put out a similar list last year, also without citing the fact that it included only Hebrew names.
According to the authority, 176,230 babies were born in Israel this year — 90,646 boys and 85,584 girls.
Israel's
Central Bureau of Statistics reported in May that 8.18 million people
live in Israel, including a population of over six million Jews.
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