Somewhere in the region of seventy-five per cent of Israeli citizens are Jewish, so it would seem natural that the most popular babies’ names might be Jewish too.

You might expect to see some Daniels, some Davids or to keep it topical, perhaps the odd Jared in the national ‘most popular name’ lists.

But perhaps counterintuitively Muhammad tops the top baby boys’ names list for the third consecutive year according to a chart published on the Israeli government’s official Twitter feed earlier today.

🐣What are the most popular names for #babies in Israel? 👶 pic.twitter.com/tEuTa5hVzl

— Israel ישראל (@Israel) February 19, 2018

Some 166,450 babies were born during the Jewish calendar year of 5777. Despite the tiny country’s Muslim population making up only 17.7 per cent of the national total population, Muhammad retained the top slot with Yossef, Noam, David and Ori rounding out the Top Five.

For girls; Tamar, Noa, Avigail and Maya are the most popular choices.

Which name from the list is your personal favourite?