“Sure as eggs is eggs, you can count on some folk being terribly exercised each time it is ‘revealed’ that lots of boys named Mohammed, or some variation of the prophet’s name, are being born in europe. This time it’s the revelation that in four Dutch cities Mohammed is the most popular name for boys. Oh no! The Muslims are coming! Never mind that Mohammed is only the 16th most popular boys name in Holland as a whole, better by far to raise the spectre of an Islamic ‘takeover’ of Dutch cities.

“Never mind that this sort of fear-mongering has become an annual tradition. Did you know, for instance, that Mohammed was already the second most popular boys’ name in Britain? Clearly the Caliphate is on the march! Except, of course, that muslims are much more likely to name their sons Mohammed than Christians are to call their son any single name. That is, there’s much greater variance amongst non-muslim families. In other words, unless you’re wanting to stoke panic and resentment what kids are called is not a terribly useful metric.”

Alex Massie in the Spectator, 17 August 2009