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Issam

#11,186 in 2025Boys' name

Alternate transcription of Isam

Issam has been given to 214 babies in the U.S. since 1975. In 2025 it ranked #11,186 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2021, with 13 recorded.

Babies named Issam, 2025

1 in 553,000

Issam over time, 1880–2025

Boys
05101518801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Issam: meaning, origin, and history

Alternate transcription of Isam

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Issam means

Issam is a alternate transcription of Isam.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Issam is used in Arabic.

Another recorded pronunciation is /ʕi.ˈsˤaːm/ for Issam.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Issam → Isam. The family’s meaning is “security, pledge”, recorded in English with the source elements ʕiṣām.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Isam.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 214 boys were recorded with the name Issam between 1975 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 13 in 2021; its best national rank was #4,520 in 1975.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #11,133 in 2020 to #11,186 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #6,824 in 2015 to #11,186 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 Issam?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 553,000
6 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 285,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#11,186
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
382,984 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Issam 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 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 382,984 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Issam. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Issams were born

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

Median birth year
2011
About 14 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
34.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
68.2%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
214
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 34.6% of all recorded uses (74).

Is Issam 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
+1,846
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−53
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−4,362
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.50×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
46.2%
Peak was 2021 (13)
Years since peak
4
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
38.9% average annual change
Best rank ever
#4,520
1975

Spellings of Issam

Issam is not the most common spelling — Isaac is, with 61.1% against Issam's 0.04%.

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.

Issam around the world

Where Issam 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
    2000–2025
    #5,137
    in 2025
  • France
    1972–2025
    #277
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1992–2024
    #2,550
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1964–1964
    #557
    in 1964

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.

Issam by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#11,186
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 53
Best rank ever
#4,520
1975
Peak year
2021
13 that year
First recorded
1975
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
214
Count in 2025
6

Names similar to Issam

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

IssakWisamEssamWesamHusamIssaiWissamIssaacHussamIsamIssaiahIssahIssacharIssaihIssiahIssiacIssaicBassamIssaccIssaIsseiHossamIssaelArsam

Sibling names for Issam

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 Issam

Top names of 2021, Issam's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 1975Boys' names starting with I