أحمد ، محمود
Aḥmad, Maḥmūd
Person
Two names of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), meaning the praiseworthy and the praised, for his virtue and righteousness.
What it means
Aḥmad and Maḥmūd come from the same root as Muhammad (peace be upon him), ḥ-m-d, which means praise. The Quran reports Jesus giving good news of “a messenger who will come after me, whose name is Aḥmad” (61:6), and Muslims understand this as a reference to Muhammad. The Quran also promises him a “praised station”, maqām maḥmūd (17:79). A report in Sahih al-Bukhari has the Prophet saying that he had several names, among them Muhammad and Aḥmad. The names express the esteem in which his virtue and righteousness are held.
Often misunderstood as
Aḥmad is sometimes treated as a different person from Muhammad, whereas it is one of his own names.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 30, listed as AḤMAD, MAḤMŪD. The definition is restated here.