Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics on first names given to babies born in 2024 revealed that Avigail was the most popular name among Jewish girls, with 1,437 girls receiving it. The name Ayala ranked second (1,182), followed by Sarah in third place (1,151), replacing Tamar, which dropped to fourth place this year.
Among Jewish boys born in 2024, David was the most popular name. A total of 1,842 boys received this name, representing 2.7% of Jewish boys. The second most popular name was Lavi, given to 1,518 babies, and in third place was Ariel with 1,479 babies, a name that rose from fifth place in 2023. This name replaced Yosef in its ranking, which dropped to sixth place.
The bottom line showed that the names in the top ten for girls born in 2023 remained in the top ten for girls born in 2024, with minor changes in the rankings. Among boys, nine of the names in the top ten for babies born in 2023 remained in the top ten for babies born in 2024, with minor changes in the rankings.
According to the data, Muhammad was the most popular name among all babies born in 2024 in Israel and among Muslim boys specifically, with 2,257 boys receiving this name. However, this name has been in a relative decline from 17% in the early 2000s to 11.4% in 2024.
This means that in the early 2000s, one in six Muslim boys received the name Muhammad, while in 2024, only one in nine was named this. Among Muslim girls, the most popular name was Miriam, with 566 girls bearing it.
Data from the bureau revealed that October 7 attacks influenced a decline in the name Be'eri. This name experienced the highest quantitative drop compared to the previous year, from 435 to 92. The bureau noted that this decline may be related to the fact that the name is primarily associated with Kibbutz Be'eri, which was at the center of the events of October 7, 2023.
The data further revealed that the names Eliyah, Ariel, Avigail, and Shilo experienced the highest quantitative increases compared to 2023. It should be noted that Avigail was the most popular name for Jewish girls in both 2023 and 2024. Ayala, which was the second most popular name among Jewish girls, rose slightly (from 1,171 to 1,182), and therefore the gap between it and first place grew.
Among Jewish girls, the traditional names Esther and Sarah were popular in cities with large concentrations of ultra-Orthodox Jews (Beit Shemesh, Beitar Illit, Bnei Brak, Modi'in Illit, Jerusalem), while the name Maya was popular primarily in central cities.
Similarly, the traditional names Avraham, David, Yosef and Moshe were popular primarily in cities with large concentrations of ultra-Orthodox Jews (Modi'in Illit, Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, Beit Shemesh, Ashdod, Netivot, Elad, Tiberias, Beitar Illit), while the name Adam was popular in Tel Aviv-Jaffa.
The only name given to more than 20 girls in communities was Miriam, while the name Muhammad was very popular, especially in Jerusalem with 462 children. The names Ariel and Uri, as well as Ori, which were in the top ten most popular names for Jewish boys, also appeared in the top ten gender-neutral names.
Out of 3,024 multiple births in which all babies received names, 2,957 were twins and 66 were triplets. Among twins, the most popular name combinations for seven pairs of twins were "Muhammad, Ahmad" as well as "Rafael, Michael." The name pair "Lavi, Ari" was popular with six pairs of twins. Among the 66 triplets, all combinations were unique.
