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I never imagined looking at baby names would confirm my belief that the world is a dark place, getting darker.

And yet, as I surveyed the UK’s top 100 baby names for 2024, one name leapt out at me.

Yahya.

Ah, Yahya…

Right there, neatly snuggled between Enzo and Ralph, at number 93 on the list of most popular UK boys’ names was Yahya, shimmering like a dagger in the moonlight.

What could possibly have inspired so many UK parents to name their offspring Yahya?

Parents who otherwise would have named their son Muhammad, Mohammed or Mohammad?

Incidentally, all three spellings of the Islamic prophet made the top 100 – ranking 1st, 21st and 53rd respectively.

For context, if you add the three spellings of Mo together, there were 8467 new Mo’s running around last year. That’s almost double the number of boys named Noah, which was the second most popular name.

I’m not saying people in the UK should build an Ark. But, then again.

Yahya Surges in Popularity in the UK

What I’m interested in, however, is the sudden surge in the name Yahya.

How was it that the name became suddenly so popular it fairly stormed into the Top 100, rising 33 places in just 12 months?

Far be it from me to suggest a large number of parents were naming their baby boys in honour of the man who orchestrated the October 7 attack on the Jews.

But… it certainly seems like a large number of parents were naming their baby boys in honour of the man who orchestrated the October 7 attack on the Jews.

In case you’re unfamiliar with Yahya Sinwar’s illustrious career, let’s take a moment to run through the highlights.

Yahya Sinwar: Brutal Mastermind of the October 7 Attacks

He’s most famous as the brutal mastermind of the October 7 attacks in which more than 1200 Israelis were slaughtered and hundreds taken hostage.

Prior to that, he was known as “The Butcher”, presumably after all the other cute nicknames were taken.

In case you’re wondering, no British boys were named “The Butcher” last year. Yahya, I’m sure you’ll agree, has more zing.

Yahya is the man who, in 1989, was sentenced to four life sentences for planning the murder of Israeli soldiers along with Palestinians he accused of collaboration.

This is the man who once forced a suspected informant to bury his own brother alive.

That said, I’m sure the parents who selected “Yahya” for their newborns didn’t sit down one night and think, “Ah, yes, let’s name him after a man who led the greatest slaughter of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust.”

People wouldn’t do that, would they?

No, this is likely the result of some abstract, unknowable force in the universe – call it coincidence, fate, or just an uncanny mix-up in the name department.

Still, let’s consider the timing. This leap in name popularity didn’t occur in a vacuum.

The calendar year from which the data was taken started just over two months after the infamous October 7 massacre.

So, if you didn’t know better, you might think this uptick in the name Yahya was some sort of unintentional homage to the very man whose actions sparked a brutal, ongoing conflict.

Not that anyone would ever suggest such a thing, of course.

In the UK, supporting Hamas is illegal under the Terrorism Act 2000, so it’s highly unlikely that naming your child after Yahya Sinwar would come across as a show of political solidarity.

But still.

Yahya: Arabic Form of John

What’s really fascinating here, though, is how the name Yahya managed to find its way into the public consciousness. I mean, of all the names in the world.

It’s a name with deep religious and cultural signficance in various parts of the world.

In Islamic tradition, Yahya is the Arabic form of John the Baptist.

Ah the irony.

While John the Baptist is a Jew who had his head cut off, Yahya Sinwar is a Palestinian Arab who directed the heads of Jews to be cut off.

So what does it say about the United Kingdom that Yahya is suddenly so popular as a name among new parents of baby boys?

To the UK’s Jews it says… move someplace else.

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Republished with thanks to The James Macpherson Report.

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Image via Wikimedia Commons.