The name comes from the passive participle of the Arabic verb ḥammada (حَمَّدَ), meaning 'to praise', which itself comes from the triconsonantal Semitic root Ḥ-M-D. Other spellings of the name include Muhammed, Muhamad, Mohammad, Mohammed, Mahammad, Maxammed, Mehemmed, Mohamad, Mohamed, and a variety of other ways.

[citation needed] According to the sixth edition of The Columbia Encyclopedia (2000), Muhammad is probably the most common given name in the world, including variations.

[8] Approximately 60% of people named Muhammad live in Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan.

[12] In May 2006, it was reported that statistics indicate that some 8,928 Danish Muslims carry the name Muhammad and that in 2004 alone, 167 new-born babies were registered.

[14] According to the Social Security Administration, Mohammad was ranked 589th, Mohammed 633rd, and Muhammad the 639th most popular first name for newborns in 2006.

[21] In 2017 legislation made it illegal in China to give children names that the Chinese government deemed to "exaggerate religious fervor”.

[25][26] Al Jazeera reported in 2021 that blasphemy charges had been filed against Ahmadis who wrote "Mohammed" on a wedding invitation in an unspecified amount of instances.