What's in a Name

When I was a kid, I can remember reading with interest the most popular names lists that were released each year.

Each year it seemed, names that topped the list in the English speaking world were David, Michael and John, Mary, Lisa, Jennifer, etc. That stopped about 25 years ago when people started getting more trendy with names. If it was popular on TV, it would be popular for society.

When my wife was pregnant with our children, we enjoyed looking through the baby names book. We settled on classic Hebrew names that were known but not the most common.

Today, from Britain - if I remember correctly, the place where English evolved and was spread to the world - news came that, when you combine the 14 variations in spelling, the name Mohammed is the second most popular in the nation, second only to Jack but ahead of Thomas. If the trend continues, it will be the most popular boys name in Britain by year's end.

According to the story, scholars said the rise in popularity was the growing number of young Muslims having families and the desire to honour the prophet. I don't know why it would take a scholar to figure that out; any old shlub should be able to.

The demographics in Europe show the rapid increase in the muslim population and it's no exception in Britain. The rise in the use of Mohammed is only a small indicator of what's going on. It is the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about.

The British have practised a polished version of anti-Semitism recently. It's present in its media and the censures against it from journalists - even as one of their own has been held for almost three months by palestinian terrorists - university professors and labour unions which are appalling in their bias. But, then that's nothing new for the British who have long had a vein of only half-concealed anti-Semitism in their society (Winston Churchill, God bless him, among those exempted).

The combination of British contempt cloaked in civility mixed with islamic hatred is very worrisome and one wonders how much influence it's already having.

If I were British, I don't think I'd be happy with this news. Sure, it's all well and good to bash around a bunch of Jews thousands of miles away but the day may come when Mohammed2007 has made it so Jack2007 can't live in his own country.