# Ishmael (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/ishmael/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Hebrew |
| Meaning | “god hears”, “god will hear” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɪʃ.meɪ.əl/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Ish |
| Variant spellings | Ismahel, Ismael |
| US babies named this | 6,794 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 6,794 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 454, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

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

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 133 | 1,289 |
| 2012 | 127 | 1,341 |
| 2013 | 121 | 1,392 |
| 2014 | 141 | 1,267 |
| 2015 | 150 | 1,225 |
| 2016 | 132 | 1,352 |
| 2017 | 158 | 1,184 |
| 2018 | 139 | 1,311 |
| 2019 | 143 | 1,299 |
| 2020 | 144 | 1,272 |
| 2021 | 143 | 1,313 |
| 2022 | 97 | 1,734 |
| 2023 | 120 | 1,493 |
| 2024 | 121 | 1,488 |
| 2025 | 121 | 1,469 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 20 | 1,251 |
| 2012 | 21 | 1,229 |
| 2013 | 18 | 1,339 |
| 2014 | 11 | 1,935 |
| 2015 | 18 | 1,380 |
| 2016 | 16 | 1,570 |
| 2017 | 21 | 1,247 |
| 2018 | 12 | 1,875 |
| 2019 | 11 | 1,986 |
| 2020 | 14 | 1,635 |
| 2021 | 12 | 1,860 |
| 2022 | 12 | 1,879 |
| 2023 | 13 | 1,799 |
| 2024 | 10 | 2,263 |
| 2025 | 6 | 3,256 |

## In other languages

- Chinese: 伊什梅爾 /伊什梅尔, 伊斯梅爾 /伊斯梅尔
- Finnish: Ismo
- Hindi: इश्मेयल
- Hungarian: Izmael
- Portuguese: Ismael
- Russian: Измаи́л, Исмаи́л
- Spanish: Ismael
- Turkish: İsmail

## People named Ishmael

- Ishmael Reed, American poet, novelist, essayist, songwriter, playwright, editor and publisher (born 1938
- Ishmael Miller, English association football player (born 1987)
- Ishmael Toroama, Bougainvillean politician
- Omarion, American R&B singer
- Ish Smith, American basketball player
- Lil Tracy, American rapper, singer, and songwriter
- Wadada Leo Smith, American jazz trumpeter and composer

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.