Name Awesome

Ishmael

#1,469 in 2025Boys' name

A (male) Muslim: a (male) Muslim person, through יִשְׁמָעֵאל

Ishmael has been given to 6,794 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #1,469 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2017, with 158 recorded.

Babies named Ishmael, 2025

1 in 27,400

Ishmael over time, 1880–2025

Boys
05010015020018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Ishmael: meaning, origin, and history

A (male) Muslim: a (male) Muslim person, through יִשְׁמָעֵאל

Hebrew

What Ishmael means

Ishmael belongs to the name family reached through Ishmael → יִשְׁמָעֵאל. Its meaning is “A (male) Muslim: a (male) Muslim person”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Hebrew יִשְׁמָעֵאל (yishma'él (yišmāʿēl), “God hears, God will hear”). Doublet of Ismail.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Ishmael (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Ishmael is used in English. Its origins include Hebrew.

Ishmael comes through Hebrew יִשְׁמָעֵאל.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Ismail and יִשְׁמָעֵאל.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Ishmael is pronounced /ˈɪʃ.meɪ.əl/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 6,794 boys were recorded with the name Ishmael between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 158 in 2017; its best national rank was #789 in 1912.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,272 in 2020 to #1,469 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,225 in 2015 to #1,469 in 2025.

How common is Ishmael?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 27,400
121 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 14,100
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,469
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
18,992 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Ishmael sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5002%

Put another way: gather 18,992 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Ishmael. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Ishmaels were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Ishmael was born before 1999 — so the typical Ishmael is around 26 today.

Median birth year
1999
About 26 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
19.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
46.5%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
5,768
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 19.9% of all recorded uses (1,355).

Is Ishmael rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+19
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−197
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−244
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.81×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
76.6%
Peak was 2017 (158)
Years since peak
8
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
10.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#789
1912

Spellings of Ishmael

Ishmael is not the most common spelling — Israel is, with 51.8% against Ishmael's 4.9%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Ishmael is used

Across 2016–2025, Ishmael was most concentrated in Florida — about 1 in 6,667 boys, against 1 in 13,044 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in 50,000).

215 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Florida1 in 6,667
  2. 2New York1 in 7,143
  3. 3Georgia1 in 8,333
  4. 4New Jersey1 in 8,333
  5. 5Pennsylvania1 in 10,000
  6. 6California1 in 12,500
  7. 7Maryland1 in 14,286
  8. 8North Carolina1 in 16,667

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Ishmael around the world

Where Ishmael ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #3,256
    in 2025
  • France
    1993–2021
    #5,596
    in 2021
  • Canada
    1996–2023
    #2,436
    in 2023
  • South Australia
    1976–1999
    #539
    in 1999

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Ishmael

People whose public names include Ishmael, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Ishmael in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Ishmael. Linked forms have their own page here.

IsmaelIsmailİsmailIsmaele

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Ishmael by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,469
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 197
Best rank ever
#789
1912
Peak year
2017
158 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
6,794
Count in 2025
121

Names similar to Ishmael

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

IshaanMikaelIshanMisaelRaphaelYisraelAzraelMickaelAbimaelMychaelNatanaelMikhaelAzaelIsaelIzraelIsrraelIshaqYaelMissaelIsmaelNathanaelMishaelKaelCael

Names with a curve like Ishmael

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Ishmael, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

SimeonVladimirEdsonMauroArmonCristobalMarianoEleazarTurnerZackSyedJob

Sibling names for Ishmael

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Ishmael

Top names of 2017, Ishmael's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 1912Boys' names starting with ILiterary Names