# Israel (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/israel/  
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 | “israel”, “kingdom/land of israel”, “he wrestles with god”, “he prevails with god”, “god rules”, “sarah” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɪz.ɹeɪl/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | Izzy |
| Variant spellings | Isreal, Yisrael, Israhel |
| US babies named this | 72,874 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 71,237 / 1,637 (2% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,391, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Middle English Israel, from Old English, borrowed from Latin Israel, from Ancient Greek Ἰσραήλ (Israḗl), from Hebrew יִשְׂרָאֵל (yisra'él, “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". The personal name, already attested in Eblaite 𒅖𒊏𒅋 (iš-ra-il) and Ugaritic 𐎊𐎌𐎗𐎛𐎍 (yšrỉl), has been variously translated as "he wrestles with God", "he prevails with God", or "God rules" (possibly from the same root ש־ר־ה/ש־ר־ר as שָׂרָה (“Sarah”)). Line 27 of the Merneptah Stele (from about 1200 B.C.E.) is thought to contain the earliest attestation of the name Israel in any language, Egyptian ysrjꜣr. : i-i-z:Z1s*Z1s:r-i-A-r:Z1*T14-A1*B1:Z2 Doublet of Yisroel.

## What it means

Israel is grouped under god.

## 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, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 36 | 4,100 |
| 2012 | 33 | 4,424 |
| 2013 | 47 | 3,379 |
| 2014 | 58 | 2,945 |
| 2015 | 60 | 2,905 |
| 2016 | 52 | 3,154 |
| 2017 | 55 | 2,983 |
| 2018 | 70 | 2,516 |
| 2019 | 69 | 2,546 |
| 2020 | 60 | 2,759 |
| 2021 | 57 | 2,939 |
| 2022 | 56 | 2,975 |
| 2023 | 55 | 3,030 |
| 2024 | 39 | 3,852 |
| 2025 | 42 | 3,605 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,612 | 218 |
| 2012 | 1,450 | 253 |
| 2013 | 1,473 | 245 |
| 2014 | 1,541 | 242 |
| 2015 | 1,582 | 240 |
| 2016 | 1,679 | 232 |
| 2017 | 1,594 | 235 |
| 2018 | 1,596 | 239 |
| 2019 | 1,622 | 234 |
| 2020 | 1,532 | 237 |
| 2021 | 1,548 | 234 |
| 2022 | 1,509 | 233 |
| 2023 | 1,537 | 229 |
| 2024 | 1,226 | 278 |
| 2025 | 1,081 | 315 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 3 | 3,900 |
| 2000 | 5 | 2,746 |
| 2012 | 6 | 3,681 |
| 2013 | 5 | 4,050 |
| 2015 | 3 | 5,730 |
| 2016 | 4 | 4,763 |
| 2017 | 3 | 5,765 |
| 2020 | 3 | 5,493 |
| 2021 | 4 | 4,634 |
| 2023 | 4 | 4,709 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 62 | 565 |
| 2012 | 61 | 586 |
| 2013 | 65 | 555 |
| 2014 | 69 | 540 |
| 2015 | 69 | 553 |
| 2016 | 71 | 546 |
| 2017 | 70 | 554 |
| 2018 | 75 | 520 |
| 2019 | 71 | 535 |
| 2020 | 61 | 587 |
| 2021 | 60 | 618 |
| 2022 | 72 | 536 |
| 2023 | 66 | 567 |
| 2024 | 31 | 981 |
| 2025 | 39 | 822 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: إِسْرَائِيل, دولة إسرائيل
- Armenian: Իսրայել
- Bulgarian: Израе́л
- Catalan: Israel
- Chinese: 以色列, 以色列, 以國 /以国, 一賜樂業 /一赐乐业
- Czech: Izrael
- Danish: Israel
- Dutch: Israël
- Esperanto: Israelo, Izrael, Izraelo
- Estonian: Iisrael
- Finnish: Israel
- French: Israël
- Georgian: ისრაელი
- German: Israel
- Greek: Ισραήλ
- Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל, יִשְׂרָאֵל
- Hindi: इसराइल
- Hungarian: Izrael
- Icelandic: Ísrael
- Indonesian: Israel

## People named Israel

- Israel Zangwill, British Zionist author (1864–1926)
- Israel Kirzner, American economist
- Israel Broussard, American actor
- Israel Tsvaygenbaum, American artist
- Israel Regardie, author and occultist (1907–1985)
- Israel Pickens, American politician (1780-1827)
- Israel Putnam, American Revolutionary War general (1718–1790)
- Israel Albert Horowitz, American chess player (1907–1973)
- Israel Folau, Australian rugby league, Australian rules and rugby union footballer
- Israel Keyes, American serial killer (1978–2012)
- Israel Hernández, Cuban judoka
- Israel Hands, 18th-century pirate

## 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.