Isa

What Isa means

Diminutive of Isabel, meaning “my God is an oath”

diminutive of the female given name Isabel || From Spanish Isabel, from Old Occitan Elisabel, from Latin Elisabeth, from Ancient Greek Ἐλισάβετ (Elisábet), from Hebrew אֱלִישֶׁבַע (Elishéva, “my God is an oath”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Isa” (revision 92131102) and “Isabel” (revision 93568485), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Isa?

US: Rising: up from #1481 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #317 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 253 boys got the name (#929 that year). First in the US records in 1915.

How common

• About 1 in 6,751 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,314 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in VA (0.46 per 1,000 boys), IL (0.38 per 1,000 boys), NY (0.36 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Isa is #929 in the US and #238 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 68.0% of US babies named Isa were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Asa622 US · 83 E&W
• Isai186 US
• Issa98 US · 59 E&W
• Esa52 US · 89 E&W
• Esai107 US
• Essa51 US · 46 E&W
• Asai71 US
• Eisa12 US · 29 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Isa

Boys

• Musa#469Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #64 vs #469 in 2025
• Yusuf#449Same root as Joseph, meaning “(God) shall add”^*
• Laith#893Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #254 vs #893 in 2025
• Amir#105“commander, prince”^*
• Yahya#615Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #81 vs #615 in 2025
• Muhammad#239“praised, commendable, laudable”^*

For a sister

• Amira#132“princess”^*
• Maryam#351Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #52 vs #351 in 2025
• Zahra#538Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1973, with 8 babies
• Zara#212“flower”^*
• Amirah#490Variant of Amira, meaning “princess”^*
• Amina#315“faithful, trustworthy”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Arabic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Isa’s. Rank is US 2025.