Germany’s labor ministry has released revised data on the most common names of welfare recipients, with Mohammed and Ahmad ranking among the top names. According to the federal government’s figures, Mohammed is now the most common name, with nearly 40,000 entries, followed by Michael with approximately 24,600, and Ahmad with over 20,600. Olena, a Ukrainian variant of Helen, remains the only female name in the top ten, with around 14,200 entries.
The revised list combines different spellings of names, which was not the case in the initial data released in June. At the time, the leading names were Michael, Andreas, and Thomas, prompting media ridicule of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which had requested the information to support its argument about the failure of integration.
Germany’s unemployment rate has reached 6.4% in August, with the total number of jobless people exceeding three million for the first time in a decade. The Federal Employment Agency reported that 5.42 million people were receiving welfare benefits at the end of 2024, with 48% being foreigners, compared to 19.6% in 2010.
The country’s migration policies have been a subject of debate, with Germany being the European Union’s top migrant destination and the world’s third-largest refugee-hosting country. Under former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-border policies, over a million people arrived from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq during the 2015 migrant influx. In recent years, Germany has granted temporary protection to 1.2 million Ukrainians and received 334,000 asylum applications in 2023, nearly a third of the EU total.
The migrant crisis has put a strain on housing, public services, and finances, contributing to the rise of the AfD, which has recently led national polls as Germany’s most popular political party. The party came in second in February’s federal election with 152 seats in the 630-seat Bundestag but was excluded from coalition talks. Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has designated the AfD a “confirmed extremist entity,” and senior officials have continued to seek legal grounds to pursue a formal ban of the party.
