Israel

What Israel means

Possibly “kingdom/land of Israel”

In the Bible, it is said to be from the name יִשְׂרֶה אֵל (yisré 'él) given to Jacob in Genesis 32:29, after which his descendants came to be known as Israelites and their land as the "kingdom/land of Israel".

Source: Wiktionary, “Israel” (revision 94593316), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Israel?

US: Falling: down from #240 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #553 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2006, when 1,927 boys got the name (#202 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 1,580 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 6,973 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 HI (2.06 per 1,000 boys), NM (1.85 per 1,000 boys), SD (1.3 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Israel is #315 in the US and #822 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 96.3% of US babies named Israel 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

• Azrael421 US · 4 E&W
• Ezrael73 US
• Izrael56 US
• Isrrael5 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.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Isreal

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Israel

Boys

• Jonas#599“dove”^*
• Elijah#7“Yahweh is my god”^*
• Malachi#134“my messenger”^*
• Isaac#47“he laughs, he will laugh”^*
• Abraham#209“father of + multitude of”^*
• Zion#142Editor’s note Up from #227 in 2015 to #142 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 680 US boys in the 2025 records

For a sister

• Isabella#7Form of Isabel, meaning “my God is an oath”^*
• Maya#62Editor’s note Steady in the US: #68 in 2015 and #62 in 2025. About 1 in 430 US girls in the 2025 records
• Ava#11Editor’s note Down from #4 in 2015 to #11 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 210 US girls in the 2025 records
• Sarai#424“master, chief”^*
• Azariah#630“Yah Has Helped”^*
• Gabriella#105Editor’s note Down from #54 in 2015 to #105 in 2025 in the US

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