Head to head · Boys' names
Muhammad vs Warren
#239 vs #240 in 2025
Muhammad is a whisker ahead (#239 vs #240 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Muhammad is climbing the charts fast, Warren is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Warren has the edge.
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
On the charts, Warren leads 4 measures of 6; Muhammad leads 2.
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: Muhammad —, Warren #95 — Warren higher
- 1890s: Muhammad —, Warren #115 — Warren higher
- 1900s: Muhammad —, Warren #126 — Warren higher
- 1910s: Muhammad —, Warren #103 — Warren higher
- 1920s: Muhammad #3959, Warren #60 — Warren higher
- 1930s: Muhammad —, Warren #100 — Warren higher
- 1940s: Muhammad #3587, Warren #106 — Warren higher
- 1950s: Muhammad —, Warren #133 — Warren higher
- 1960s: Muhammad #2999, Warren #164 — Warren higher
- 1970s: Muhammad #1403, Warren #225 — Warren higher
- 1980s: Muhammad #914, Warren #281 — Warren higher
- 1990s: Muhammad #836, Warren #395 — Warren higher
- 2000s: Muhammad #644, Warren #503 — Warren higher
- 2010s: Muhammad #405, Warren #419 — Muhammad higher
- 2020s: Muhammad #278, Warren #305 — Muhammad higher
Warren stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Muhammad has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Muhammad | Warren |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #95 |
| 1890s | — | #115 |
| 1900s | — | #126 |
| 1910s | — | #103 |
| 1920s | #3959 | #60 |
| 1930s | — | #100 |
| 1940s | #3587 | #106 |
| 1950s | — | #133 |
| 1960s | #2999 | #164 |
| 1970s | #1403 | #225 |
| 1980s | #914 | #281 |
| 1990s | #836 | #395 |
| 2000s | #644 | #503 |
| 2010s | #405 | #419 |
| 2020s | #278 | #305 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Muhammad
- England & Wales#1
- Scotland#4
- Canada#26
Warren
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
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.
Warren
either "enclosure, game park" or "guard, protect"
Two serious roads lead to the same spelling. One is a place: La Varenne in Normandy, from Old French varenne, an enclosed park where game was kept — the same word that gives English its rabbit warren. The other is the Germanic personal name Warin, built on a root meaning to guard or protect, which came into French as Guarin and Garin. Genealogists have argued for both, and many English Warren families can be traced to one or the other without settling the question for the name as a whole.
Warin → Guarin → Warren (surname) → Warren (given name)
How it traveled
The name arrived in England with the Normans after 1066, carried by families whose surname pointed back to Normandy — either to a place called La Varenne or to an ancestor named Warin. For centuries it stayed a surname, and a well-established one.
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
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.
Warren
WOR-en
Stress on the first syllable. Most American speakers say it so the first part matches the word war; in some regions it comes closer to WAHR-en. Both are unremarkable and neither needs correcting.
- Ren — The most common short form in current use, and also a standalone given name in its own right.
- Renny — Informal extension of Ren, mostly used within families.
- W — Initial-only nickname, typical of school and workplace shorthand rather than home use.
Who has carried each name
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
Warren
Warren Buffett (b. 1930) — The "Oracle of Omaha" investor
Warren Beatty (b. 1937) — Bonnie and Clyde star and Oscar-winning director
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 Muhammad if you want…
- a name with more sound in itMuhammad runs 3 syllables, Warren 2
- a name that charts abroad tooMuhammad is on the national lists of England & Wales, Scotland and Canada
- a newer arrivalMuhammad entered the US charts in 1929
- a name that feels very nowMuhammad is climbing the charts fast
Choose Warren if you want…
- a name on the way upup 103 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesWarren is 2 syllables to Muhammad's 3
- a long American recordWarren was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 30% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 51% for Muhammad
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
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.
Warren
Strengths
- One standard spelling that English speakers already read and write correctly on first sight.
- A documented record stretching back to Norman England, first as a surname and then, for well over a century, as a given name.
- Works at every age: it sits comfortably on a toddler, a teenager and an eighty-year-old.
To consider
- It still reads as a name of older generations to many Americans, since the bulk of living Warrens were born decades ago. That is changing, but a young Warren may be the only one of his age anyone knows.
- Warren is also an ordinary English noun — a maze of rabbit tunnels, and by extension any crowded warren of rooms. Most people never think of it, but the word is there.
- It remains a common surname and has been prominent in American public life as one, which can occasionally cause a beat of hesitation about which name is which.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to 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.
Warren
30%chance Warren feels dated by 2040
Warren is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
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 Muhammad and Warren 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 Muhammad and Warren?
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Muhammad and Warren — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Muhammad or Warren — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Muhammad or Warren?
- Muhammad, in 2025: Muhammad ranked #239 with 1,473 babies; Warren ranked #240 with 1,471 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Muhammad or Warren?
- Warren. Over the last five years Muhammad moved up 70 places; Warren moved up 103 places.
- Which is the older name, Muhammad or Warren?
- Muhammad entered the US charts in 1929; Warren was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Warren is the older name.
- How many people are named Muhammad and Warren?
- About 21,500 people named Muhammad are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 89,500 people named Warren are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Muhammads or Warrens in the classroom?
- Muhammad will almost certainly be the only one in school. Warren 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
Keep playing
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