The name Mohammed and its many spelling variations are on course to become one of the most popular names in Germany going from 97th to 26th most popular in less than a decade.

According to the Gesellschaft für Deutsche Sprache (Society for German Language, GfdS), often labelled as the most important language society in Germany, the name Mohammed has seen a rapid rise in popularity, though the name could be even more popular than their figures suggest, Die Welt reports.

GfdS data, like many similar statistics, do not take into consideration all of the different spellings of Mohammed such as Mohamad, Mohamed, Mehmet, and others.

In Austria, the daily newspaper Kronen Zeitung compiled data using all the variants of the name and found that Mohammed soared in popularity from 5th overall to 3rd among baby boys born in Vienna.

‘Muhammed’ Is Third Most Popular Baby Name in Austria in 2017 https://t.co/wFTZqGfWmK — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 5, 2018

While the current numbers in Germany are based on statistics from 2016, the numbers from 2017 will likely be released in the coming months.

In the city of Herne, around 17.2 per cent of the 161,306 inhabitants were migrants in 2017 – up from 16.4 per cent in 2016. That year, Mohammed was the third most popular name in the city.

Andrea Ewels, Managing Director of GfdS, said: “The development is, of course, related to the wave of immigration,” and added that she expected Mohammed to be in the top 10 names by 2021 or 2022.

Mohammed is already one of the most popular, if not the most popular name for baby boys in many places across Europe. In September, Breitbart London reported that Mohammed was, for the fifth year running, the most popular boy’s name in London and the West Midlands.

When all the variations of the spelling of the name are taken into account, it is also the most popular boy’s name in England and Wales.

The rise of the popularity of the name Mohammed is coupled with the population growth in many Western European countries due to mass migration.

In the UK, a report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) last July showed that 98 per cent of the population growth was due to mass migration. In Sweden and Germany, mass migration was also the sole factor behind population growth.