Aug 12, 2009, 14:35 GMT
Amsterdam - Mohammed remains the most popular name for boys born in three of the Netherlands' biggest cities, according to official figures published Wednesday.
Among girls, Sara - also popular among Muslims - tops the list, followed by Emma and Sophie.
The government authority responsible for child support, the SVB - which also keeps track of the names of Dutch new-borns - said Mohammed is the most popular name for baby boys in Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. In Rotterdam, Mohammed ranks second, after Jayden.
Mohammed and Sara have enjoyed increasing popularity in the Dutch cities in recent years.
However, at a national level, Daan remains the most popular baby boy name, whilst Mohammed does not even reach the top 20. Among girls, Emma ranks first in the national top-20, with Sara ranking at the 14th place.
Dutch Muslim women have a higher fertility rate than their non-Muslim counterparts, who have an average of 1.7 child.
In addition, whereas 5 per cent of the 17 million Dutch nationals are Muslim, in the four big cities Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, some 30 per cent are predominantly Muslim migrants.
Race and ethnicity have proved an explosive political mixture in recent years in the traditionally-tolerant Netherlands, with the Dutch film maker Theo Van Gogh murdered in 2004 by a self-proclaimed militant Islamist over his views on immigration.
The controversial politician Pim Fortuyn ran on platform of opposing further immigration, before he too was murdered, in 2002.
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