LOC20:18
17:18 GMT
BRUSSELS, Feb 16 (KUNA) -- The name Mohamed or Mohammed were the most common names given to male babies in the Brussels capital region in 2017, according to figures released by Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, today.
As many as 13,313 babies were given the name of Mohamed, the name Jean in the second-place with 7,409 and in the third place, 4,731, were named Mohammed.
The name Ahmed came in the 7th rank with 4,143 names.
Fatima was the third most popular name given to female babies in the Brussels capital region with 6,036 names.
Statbel publishes every year an update of the first names of the whole population in Belgium.
In 2017, Maria and Marie were by far the most common first names among women in the whole of Belgium. Among men, Jean, Marc, Patrick, Michel and Luc led the Belgian top five names.
An estimated 25 percent of Brussels population of about one million are Muslims mainly from Morocco, Turkey, Tunisia, Algeria and some other Muslim countries. (end)
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