Md
Masculine · “praised”
Md is the standard Bangladeshi abbreviation of Muhammad, and it appears on documents so consistently that American systems have registered it as a name in its own right.
How old is the name Md?
Md first appears in US birth records in 1992 — 33 years ago. The typical Md is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 500 people named Md are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Md most popular?
Md peaked in 2017, reaching #3312 nationally. Today it ranks #4249, 937 places below that high. See the whole 2017 chart.
Md appears on this list:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Md
Ours, offered as ours. In Bangladesh an enormous proportion of men carry Muhammad as a first element, and writing it in full every time on every document became impractical, so Md. became the standard abbreviation — on passports, on cricket scorecards, on shop signs. American record systems, meeting it in a first-name field, recorded it as given. That is a bureaucratic accident that has produced a real entry in the naming statistics, and the name underneath it is the most-used in the world.
Meaning
praised, praiseworthy
Md abbreviates Muhammad, from an Arabic root meaning to praise; the same root gives Ahmad, Mahmud and the phrase alhamdulillah. The abbreviation is a Bangladeshi and Indian convention, not a name in Arabic.
Pronouncing Md
muh-HAM-ad
Said as the full name in Bengali; American readers may spell out the two letters.
Nicknames for Md
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1992
- Most boys named
- 201734 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3312reached in 2017
- Change vs 2024
- +14.3%24 in 2025, from 21
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Md in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- মোঃ in Bengali — transliteration
- Muhammad in Arabic — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, Florida, Michigan.
Mds among us
people named Md are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 71,170 born in 2025 was named Md
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jaydee test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Md's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jaydee climbed just as high around 1969, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jaydee's path sketches the road Md is walking now.
Md sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Md beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Md in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It carries the most-used name in the world behind it.
- Two letters — as short as a name can possibly be.
- Universally understood in Bangladesh and South Asia.
- It is an abbreviation and forms will ask what it stands for.
- Systems that require more than two characters will reject it.
- Outside South Asia nobody will know it is not a name.
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What they receive
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Md
Masculine · #4249 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Mds are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Md are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Md in 2025?
- Md ranks #4249 among US boy names in 2025, with 24 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Md?
- About 1 in every 71,170 US boys born in 2025 was named Md — 24 in all.
- Will my child share the name Md with classmates?
- Md will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Md
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Guadalupe#4249 · Denny#4249 · Hughes#4249 · Erling#4249 · Rodrick#4249 · Elric#4249 · Ron#4249 · Wright#4249
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Md? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Md and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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