# Issa (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/issa/  
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 and girls |
| Origin | Arabic |
| Meaning | “jesus” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 3,217 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 2,288 / 929 (29% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 954, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Arabic عيسى (“Jesus”).

## 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 | 14 | 8,363 |
| 2012 | 15 | 7,979 |
| 2013 | 20 | 6,343 |
| 2014 | 21 | 6,080 |
| 2015 | 28 | 4,906 |
| 2016 | 26 | 5,195 |
| 2017 | 41 | 3,730 |
| 2018 | 53 | 3,075 |
| 2019 | 57 | 2,902 |
| 2020 | 54 | 2,990 |
| 2021 | 59 | 2,864 |
| 2022 | 74 | 2,454 |
| 2023 | 61 | 2,798 |
| 2024 | 81 | 2,291 |
| 2025 | 59 | 2,871 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 56 | 2,296 |
| 2012 | 66 | 2,078 |
| 2013 | 58 | 2,237 |
| 2014 | 71 | 2,009 |
| 2015 | 54 | 2,396 |
| 2016 | 81 | 1,850 |
| 2017 | 64 | 2,141 |
| 2018 | 87 | 1,767 |
| 2019 | 73 | 2,008 |
| 2020 | 88 | 1,754 |
| 2021 | 84 | 1,845 |
| 2022 | 92 | 1,787 |
| 2023 | 109 | 1,595 |
| 2024 | 115 | 1,535 |
| 2025 | 98 | 1,682 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 7 | 3,117 |
| 2021 | 3 | 5,581 |
| 2022 | 6 | 3,533 |
| 2024 | 5 | 4,192 |
| 2025 | 7 | 3,333 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 37 | 812 |
| 2012 | 33 | 901 |
| 2013 | 37 | 821 |
| 2014 | 44 | 730 |
| 2015 | 37 | 833 |
| 2016 | 28 | 1,022 |
| 2017 | 51 | 684 |
| 2018 | 35 | 870 |
| 2019 | 45 | 731 |
| 2020 | 45 | 723 |
| 2021 | 55 | 659 |
| 2022 | 43 | 758 |
| 2023 | 71 | 539 |
| 2024 | 60 | 630 |
| 2025 | 59 | 627 |

## People named Issa

- Issa Rae, American actress, writer and producer
- Issa Kaboré, Burkinabè association football player
- Issa Hayatou, Cameroonian basketball player and football executive
- Issa Serge Coelo, Chadian film director
- Issa Kallon, Dutch professional footballer
- Issa Adekunle, association football player
- Issa Gouo, Bukinabe footballer
- Issa Traoré de Brahima, Burkinabe filmmaker
- Issa Doumbia, French actor
- Isa-Beg Isaković, 15th century Bosnian nobleman, Ottoman general and governor of Bosnia

## 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.