Head to head · Boys' names
Mark vs Muhammad
#244 vs #239 in 2025
Muhammad is a whisker ahead (#239 vs #244 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Muhammad is climbing the charts fast, Mark is holding its place on the charts.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Mark and Muhammad each lead 3 measures of 6.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Mark #147, Muhammad — — Mark higher
- 1890s: Mark #160, Muhammad — — Mark higher
- 1900s: Mark #190, Muhammad — — Mark higher
- 1910s: Mark #204, Muhammad — — Mark higher
- 1920s: Mark #208, Muhammad #3959 — Mark higher
- 1930s: Mark #184, Muhammad — — Mark higher
- 1940s: Mark #81, Muhammad #3587 — Mark higher
- 1950s: Mark #12, Muhammad — — Mark higher
- 1960s: Mark #7, Muhammad #2999 — Mark higher
- 1970s: Mark #20, Muhammad #1403 — Mark higher
- 1980s: Mark #34, Muhammad #914 — Mark higher
- 1990s: Mark #54, Muhammad #836 — Mark higher
- 2000s: Mark #115, Muhammad #644 — Mark higher
- 2010s: Mark #190, Muhammad #405 — Mark higher
- 2020s: Mark #245, Muhammad #278 — Mark higher
Mark stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Mark | Muhammad |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #147 | — |
| 1890s | #160 | — |
| 1900s | #190 | — |
| 1910s | #204 | — |
| 1920s | #208 | #3959 |
| 1930s | #184 | — |
| 1940s | #81 | #3587 |
| 1950s | #12 | — |
| 1960s | #7 | #2999 |
| 1970s | #20 | #1403 |
| 1980s | #34 | #914 |
| 1990s | #54 | #836 |
| 2000s | #115 | #644 |
| 2010s | #190 | #405 |
| 2020s | #245 | #278 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Mark
Not charting outside the US.
Muhammad
- England & Wales#1
- Scotland#4
- Canada#26
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Mark
of Mars
Marcus is generally read as belonging to Mars, and the derivation is standard though, like most very old Roman praenomina, reconstructed rather than recorded. Mars himself changed considerably over Roman history: he begins as a god of agriculture and boundaries and becomes the god of war, which means the name's association shifted underneath it. The month of March carries the same name.
Marcus → Marcus → Mark
How it traveled
The Gospel of Mark is the shortest of the four and almost certainly the first written; the other two synoptic Gospels appear to have used it as a source, which makes it the earliest sustained account of Jesus that survives. Tradition connects its author to Peter.
Muhammad
praised, praiseworthy
From the Arabic root ḥ-m-d, 'to praise'. The related names Ahmad, Mahmud and Hamid come from the same root.
Muḥammad (Arabic) → Muhammad → Mehmed → Mehmet
How it traveled
Muhammad is Arabic, and it belongs to the Prophet of Islam, born in Mecca in the sixth century — after him the name spread with Islam across Arabia, North Africa, Anatolia, Persia, South Asia, the Malay world and West Africa. Each language reshaped it in its own script and sound: Mehmet in Turkish, Mohammad in Persian, Mamadou in parts of West Africa, Muhamed in Bosnia.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Mark
MARK
MARK, one syllable, rhyming with dark. French drops the k sound and says MAHR; Italian and Spanish add a syllable. The English reading has been stable for many centuries and there has never been any ambiguity in it.
- Marky — The name softened, which belongs to childhood in most households.
- Marco — The Italian form used as a nickname, which travels well beyond Italian families.
Muhammad
moo-HAM-mad
Also widely said moh-HAM-med, depending on family tradition and which spelling is used. In Arabic the middle m is doubled and held, and the first h is made further back in the throat than in English.
- Mo — The everyday short form in English-speaking countries; also stands alone as a given name and a surname.
- Moe — The same short form written the American way, informal.
- Md. / Mohd. — A written abbreviation common in South Asia and Malaysia, used on documents rather than spoken aloud.
- second given name — In many South Asian and Malay families Muhammad stands first as an honorific and the child is called by the name that follows it.
Who has carried each name
Mark
Mark Twain (b. 1835) — America's greatest humorist, creator of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn
Mark Zuckerberg (b. 1984) — Built Facebook in his dorm room
Mark Ruffalo (b. 1967) — Marvel's Hulk
Muhammad
Muhammad (b. 571) — The Prophet of Islam
Muhammad Ali (b. 1942) — "The Greatest" — boxing's most famous champion
Muhammad Yunus (b. 1940) — Nobel Peace laureate who pioneered microloans for the poor
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Mark if you want…
- a name holding steadyMark is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesMark is 1 syllable to Muhammad's 3
- a long American recordMark was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 51% for Muhammad
Choose Muhammad if you want…
- a name on the way upup 70 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itMuhammad runs 3 syllables, Mark 1
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Mo, Moe and Md. / Mohd.
- a name that charts abroad tooMuhammad is on the national lists of England & Wales, Scotland and Canada
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Mark
Strengths
- One syllable, four letters, understood instantly in every European language.
- It is one of only a handful of Roman first names still in ordinary use anywhere.
- It needs no short form and has never acquired one, which suits people who dislike being shortened.
To consider
- The word mark is an ordinary English noun and verb, which gets played on regularly.
- It is strongly associated with the middle of the last century in America and dates a person fairly closely.
- A great many people carry it, so a Mark will rarely be the only one in a workplace.
Muhammad
Strengths
- Recognized on every continent and in dozens of languages, so it travels without explanation.
- Long, unbroken record from the seventh century to the present — it has never had to be revived.
- Charts in England and Wales, Scotland and Canada as well as the United States.
To consider
- The spelling is the main practical matter: Mohammed, Mohamed, Muhammed and Mohammad are all in wide use, so whichever you choose will sometimes be written another way. Deciding once and writing it consistently on documents saves the most trouble.
- The name is inseparable from Islam and from the Prophet, which is precisely the point for many families and worth thinking through for any family for whom it is not.
- In American classrooms he is unlikely to meet another, even though the name is enormously common worldwide — the totals split across all those spellings.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Mark
12%chance Mark feels dated by 2040
Mark has held the top-100 across 6 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Muhammad
51%chance Muhammad feels dated by 2040
Muhammad is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Mark and Muhammad in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Mark and Muhammad?
Put both to the vote.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Short and sweet: names of four letters or fewer
- The top-10 club: every name that made it
- The steadiest names in America
- Midcentury modern: tomorrow's comeback bets
- all guides
Where Mark and Muhammad each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Mark or Muhammad — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Mark or Muhammad?
- Muhammad, in 2025: Muhammad ranked #239 with 1,473 babies; Mark ranked #244 with 1,416 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Mark or Muhammad?
- Muhammad. Over the last five years Mark moved down 9 places; Muhammad moved up 70 places.
- Which is the older name, Mark or Muhammad?
- Mark was already in use when US records began in 1880; Muhammad entered the US charts in 1929. On the American record, Mark is the older name.
- How many people are named Mark and Muhammad?
- About 1,112,000 people named Mark are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 21,500 people named Muhammad are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Marks or Muhammads in the classroom?
- Mark will almost certainly be the only one in school. Muhammad will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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