Ismail

What Ismail means

Same root as Ishmael, meaning “God hears, God will hear”

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

Source: Wiktionary, “Ismail” (revision 92696841) and “Ishmael” (revision 93542481), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Ismail?

US: Steady: #1174 in 2015, #1064 now. England & Wales: Steady: #258 in 2015, #243 now.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 204 boys got the name (#1064 that year). First in the US records in 1962.

How common

• About 1 in 8,373 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,360 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,786 baby boys in Scotland 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 NJ (0.4 per 1,000 boys), NY (0.39 per 1,000 boys), MN (0.37 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Ismail is #1064 in the US and #243 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Ismail were boys.

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

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Ismael1,307 US · 38 E&W
• Ismaeel29 US · 79 E&W
• Izmael27 US
• Esmael10 US

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 Ismail

Boys

• Mustafa#760“the chosen one”^*
• Ibrahim#351Editor’s note Up from #436 in 2015 to #351 in 2025 in the US
• Yusuf#449Same root as Joseph, meaning “(God) shall add”^*
• Muhammad#239“praised, commendable, laudable”^*
• Yousef#744Editor’s note Up from #788 in 2015 to #744 in 2025 in the US
• Amir#105“commander, prince”^*

For a sister

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

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 Ismail’s. Rank is US 2025.