Michelle Gribbon

On Monday, we learned from the nation’s press that the most popular name given to baby boys in Britain is Muhammad. It seemed an unlikely claim at the time, and now we learn that it has no basis in fact. This spectacular example of ‘churnalism’ – publishing an article as news, when it is essentially a press release without much added – was perpetrated, in this instance, by all the mainstream press. Only one newspaper, The Guardian, has so far offered a ‘correction and clarification’:

‘A report saying that Muhammad has become the most popular name for baby boys in the UK should have made clearer that the information from the BabyCentre website was based on a survey of 56,000 users who gave birth in 2014. The latest official figures show Muhammad was the 16th most popular name for boys in England and Wales and the 52nd most popular in Scotland (Muhammad is new No 1 baby name for boys, 1 December, page 8).’

The paper has followed up the original piece with a data blog, under a heading stating that ‘although the name, popular among Islamic parents, will maybe one day become the country’s favourite, it has not happened yet.’

The source for this 'story' was TheBabyCentre.co.uk, an ‘online resource for new and expectant parents’, which conducted a survey of 56,157 babies born this year. The newspapers went with this data all too readily, overlooking official sources of information such as the Office of National Statistics (ONS) which comprehensively collates and publishes exactly this data – going back to 1904 – from final annual birth registrations.

So the question is why? Is it just lazy journalism or is there a political agenda at play? Certainly the tide of anti-immigration stories has increased significantly with the rise of UKIP’s popularity, and as the right wing press build up a momentum of stories that play to the fears of Tory heartland voters in the lead-up to the general election. Clearly, any suggestion that Mohammad is the most popular name for newborn boys in the country gives the electorate the impression that there is a surge of babies being born from Muslim backgrounds.

This issue is a sensitive one, and it is vital to our democracy and to race relations that these stories are researched and reported accurately. If they are not, it leads to instant and wildly inappropriate comments from readers, who are unlikely to question the veracity of what they've just read.

The Sun article generated 18 responses, including ‘I find this really worrying’, 'We want our country back !!!!!!!!!!' and ‘Little wonder why the NHS is in a state!’ The Daily Mail online article has generated 451 comments so far. The Independent online article has generated 82 comments. One read: ‘This is an unmitigated disaster for our country & as Nick Griffin correctly told the unbelievers & liberal native haters, they will take over in time!!!!! Strange the truth is treated to such attacks in our country these days!!!'

But this is not the truth. Only four months ago, in response to the latest ONS figures published in August (for 2013), the same newspapers were reporting that ‘Prince George, Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad’ were the inspiration for Britain’s top baby names. The latest official and truly comprehensive figures from the ONS (also based on 2013) show that Oliver is the most popular boy’s name with 6,949 recorded registrations while Muhammad (based on the most popular spelling of the name) was at number 15 with 3,499 registrations.

We shall have to wait until August for the official 2014 figures. Until then, please read any more sensational stories about Britain’s most favoured baby’s names as conjecture and inaccurate reporting, not fact.