# Ismail (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/ismail/  
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 | Arabic |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | Izzy |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 4,022 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 4,022 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 4,778, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Arabic إِسْمَاعِيل (ʔismāʕīl). Doublet of Ishmael.

## 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 | 119 | 1,398 |
| 2012 | 116 | 1,435 |
| 2013 | 135 | 1,289 |
| 2014 | 136 | 1,301 |
| 2015 | 158 | 1,177 |
| 2016 | 171 | 1,131 |
| 2017 | 148 | 1,240 |
| 2018 | 158 | 1,196 |
| 2019 | 114 | 1,501 |
| 2020 | 130 | 1,363 |
| 2021 | 121 | 1,485 |
| 2022 | 122 | 1,485 |
| 2023 | 132 | 1,398 |
| 2024 | 163 | 1,232 |
| 2025 | 204 | 1,065 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 198 | 241 |
| 2012 | 196 | 251 |
| 2013 | 181 | 265 |
| 2014 | 204 | 253 |
| 2015 | 198 | 258 |
| 2016 | 185 | 275 |
| 2017 | 189 | 275 |
| 2018 | 200 | 254 |
| 2019 | 191 | 258 |
| 2020 | 157 | 292 |
| 2021 | 148 | 316 |
| 2022 | 176 | 266 |
| 2023 | 155 | 290 |
| 2024 | 157 | 286 |
| 2025 | 200 | 243 |

## People named Ismail

- Ismail Kadare, Albanian writer (1936–2024)
- Ismail I, founder and first shah of Safavid Iran
- Ismail Gaspıralı, Crimean Tatar intellectual and politician (1851-1914)
- Ismail, Abraham's first son, who was to be offered as a sacrifice; later, an ancestor to Muhammad
- Ismail Samani, Amir of the Samanid Empire from 892 to 907
- Ismaïl Aissati, Dutch-Moroccan footballer (born 1988)
- Ismail Khan, Afghan politician
- Ismail Nasiruddin Shah of Terengganu, 4th Yang di-Pertuan Agong
- Ismail Elfath, American soccer referee
- Ismail Abdul-Latif, Bahraini footballer
- Ismail Matar, Emirati footballer
- Ismail Al Hammadi, Emirati footballer

## 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.