Mohammed
A surname and given-name derivative from the Arabic name of the Prophet Muhammad, often adopted as a family name in Muslim communities.
The #2,395 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 20,403 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Mohammed is ultimately from the Arabic name Muḥammad, meaning “praised” or “highly praised,” from the Semitic root ḥ-m-d, “to praise.” As a surname, it is generally a patronymic or inherited family name formed from a very common personal name in the Islamic world. English spellings vary because the Arabic name has many transliterations.
History
The name spread widely across Muslim societies through the prestige of the Prophet Muhammad’s name, so it appears both as a personal name and, later, as a family surname. In English-language records it is often encountered in South Asia, the Middle East, and African diasporas, with spellings shaped by local pronunciation and colonial-era romanization. The form Mohammed has long been one of the most familiar English spellings, though Muhammad is now also very common.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because the name is so widespread, many unrelated families in different countries independently took it on as a surname from an ancestor’s given name rather than from a single shared clan line.
From the historical record
“10. The Hijrah or Mohammedan ^ra. 11. Tables of the Khalifs, Kings of Persia, &c., from Mohammed to the present time. In T 545 Conrad Gesner published at Zurich, in a folio volume, his Biblio- theca Universalis, which contained a description of all the books in the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin languages, concerning…”
— Varieties and Synonymes of Surnames and Christian Names in Ireland