The most common name given to Jewish boys in 2019 was David, followed by the name Ariel, according to a survey published on the issue by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.
The most common name among Jewish girls, for the fourth year in a row, was Tamar. The previously very popular name Noa ranked third place and Maya remained in second place.
The name Muhammad is the most common name in Israel in general, and of course among Muslim boys, but it is on a continuing downward trend, and fewer boys were called by that name in Israel in 2019.
Among the Muslim girls, the most common name was Miriam.
Among the Jews, several names took on unisex popularity, including the names Ariel, Omer, Noam, Uri, Daniel, Eliya and Hallel.
Among Muslims, Nur, Jude and Malik are used for both boys and girls.
Some names are common to members of different religions. Yosef, Adam and Amir were given to Jewish, Muslim and Druze boys, and Lian, Aline and Nur were given to Jewish, Muslim and Druze girls.
Liam was given to Jewish and Druze boys and Jewish girls.
Among Jewish girls, the name Maya was especially common in Hod Hasharon and was given to 8.5% of the girls born there in 2019.
This name was also very common in the Modi’in, Herzliya, Ramat Gan, Yavne, Sderot, Beer Yaakov, Rishon Lezion, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Givatayim, Haifa, Kfar Saba, Rosh HaAyin and Holon.
The name Liv, which was relatively rare in 2010 and was given only to 10 girls, was given in 2019 to 167 girls.
The name Arya, which was hardly given to girls before 2011, was given to 93 girls in 2019.
Among the Jewish boys, the name David was the most common in Yad Binyamin, Rechasim, Kochav Yaakov, Kiryat Arba, Bnei Brak, Netivot, Jerusalem and Ofakim. The name Ariel was the most common in Carmiel, Kfar Yona, Ramat Hasharon, Raanana, Karnei Shomron, Gan Yavne, Yehud, Ma’ale Adumim, Kiryat Ono, Tirat Carmel, Yavne, and Haifa.