Mohammed

Mohamed or Muhammad(in Arabic, محمد; Arabic pronunciation:/mюæmmæd/( listen)) — also transcribed Moham(m)ed, Moha(m)mad, Muja(m)mad, Muhá(m)mad or in other ways that reflect its variations of pronunciation with different accents—it is a proper name of a man of Arab origin, although widespread throughout the Islamic world because it is the name of the prophet of Islam, which has traditionally been hysped as Mohammed. In Arabic it means "alabado".

It is considered the most widely used name (or surname) on Earth, due to the number of Muslims there are today. It is estimated that more than 150 million people around the world are called Muhammad or any of its variants.

Etymology

Muhammad is the masculine passive participle of the verb hammada (حَمِدَ), meaning "to praise". It shares the same Semitic root ح م د (Ḥ -M-D) with other Arabic proper names such as Ahmad (m), Hamid (m), Hamida (f) and Mahmud (m).

Specifically for its Hispanicization as "Mohammed", this derives from the phonetic features of the Andalusian Arabic dialect.

Variants

• Ma among the Muslims of China.
• Mamadú (in French): Mamadou), in West African countries (see Islamization in sub-Saharan Africa).
• Mehmet in Turkey and countries of Turkish influence.
• Mohd among the Muslims of Southeast Asia.