Name Awesome

Issa

#1,682 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Possibly to purchase, acquire, through عيسى

Issa has been given to 3,217 babies in the U.S. since 1969. In 2025 it ranked #1,682 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2024, with 115 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 71% boys, 29% girls all-time.

Babies named Issa, 2025

1 in 33,800

Issa over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Issa over time

In 2025, Issa went to 38% girls and 62% boys.

19692025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Issa: meaning, origin, and history

Possibly to purchase, acquire, through عيسى

Arabic

What Issa means

Issa belongs to the name family reached through Issa → عيسى. Its meaning is “to purchase, acquire”.

Origin, language, and formation

Issa is used in English and French. Its origins include Arabic.

Issa comes through Arabic عيسى.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Jesus and عيسى.

Pronunciation and spelling

In French, Issa is pronounced /i.sa/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,288 boys were recorded with the name Issa between 1969 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 115 in 2024; its best national rank was #1,535 in 2024.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #1,754 in 2020 to #1,682 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #2,395 in 2015 to #1,682 in 2025.

In the United States, 929 girls were recorded with the name Issa between 1975 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 81 in 2024; its best national rank was #2,291 in 2024.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #2,990 in 2020 to #2,871 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #4,904 in 2015 to #2,871 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Issa?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 33,800
98 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 17,400
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,682
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
23,449 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Issa 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 5001%

Put another way: gather 23,449 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Issa. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Issas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Issa was born before 2011 — so the typical Issa is around 14 today.

Median birth year
2011
About 14 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
29.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
73.8%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
2,288
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 29.1% of all recorded uses (665).

Is Issa 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
−147
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+72
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+713
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.81×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
85.2%
Peak was 2024 (115)
Years since peak
1
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
20.3% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,535
2024

Spellings of Issa

Issa is not the most common spelling — Isaac is, with 66.0% against Issa's 0.46%.

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 Issa is used — boys

Across 2016–2025, Issa was most concentrated in Michigan — about 1 in 5,263 boys, against 1 in 17,893 across all states with data. It was least common in North Carolina (1 in 100,000).

119 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Michigan1 in 5,263
  2. 2New York1 in 7,692
  3. 3Ohio1 in 14,286
  4. 4Virginia1 in 16,667
  5. 5California1 in 20,000
  6. 6Illinois1 in 20,000
  7. 7Minnesota1 in 25,000
  8. 8Texas1 in 25,000

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.

Where Issa is used — girls

Across 2016–2025, Issa was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 16,667 girls, against 1 in 22,173 across all states with data. It was least common in Pennsylvania (1 in 100,000).

16 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 16,667
  2. 2New York1 in 20,000
  3. 3Texas1 in 20,000
  4. 4New Jersey1 in 25,000
  5. 5Arizona1 in 50,000
  6. 6Georgia1 in 50,000
  7. 7Massachusetts1 in 50,000
  8. 8Pennsylvania1 in 100,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls 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.

Issa around the world

Where Issa 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
    #627
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2025–2025
    #762
    in 2025
  • Ireland
    2020–2024
    #785
    in 2024
  • France
    1966–2025
    #74
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1992–2024
    #697
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1985–1991
    #481
    in 1991

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

Notable people named Issa

People whose public names include Issa, 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.

Issa by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,682
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 72
Best rank ever
#1,535
2024
Peak year
2024
115 that year
First recorded
1969
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,288
Count in 2025
98

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#2,871
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 119
Best rank ever
#2,291
2024
Peak year
2024
81 that year
First recorded
1975
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
929
Count in 2025
59

Names similar to Issa

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

IssiahIssakEssaIssamIssacMoussaIssaiahEissaMussaMelissaIssaiIssaacIssahVanessaIssacharAlyssaIssaihIssiacIsseIdrissaIssaicIssaccIsseiIssael

Names with a curve like Issa

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

ShalomAkivaSimchaSirGiorgioGavrielTamirEliottYasinNiallDovidYehoshua

Sibling names for Issa

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 Issa

Top names of 2024, Issa's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2024Boys' names starting with I