Ishmael
Ishmael was given to 121 boys in 2025, #1,469 among boys’ names; 6,794 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 5,630 Americans named Ishmael and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (83% of everyone recorded); the median is 23 years old and half are between 11 and 34.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Ishmael by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Ishmael mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Ishmael is “a male given name from Hebrew.” Its etymology gives the sense “God hears, God will hear” (yišmāʿēl),).
From Hebrew יִשְׁמָעֵאל (yishma'él (yišmāʿēl), “God hears, God will hear”). Doublet of Ismail.
/ˈɪʃ.meɪ.əl/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Ishmael?
#1,469 among boys’ names, 2025
Ishmael fell from #1,225 in 2015 to #1,469 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 78.3 to 70.8 per million.
158 babies in 2017, the peak
Ishmael peaked in 2017, when 158 boys were given it, #1,184 among boys’ names. The 121 births of 2025 are 77% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 121 | #1,469 | 70.8 |
| 2024 | 121 | #1,488 | 70.2 |
| 2023 | 120 | #1,493 | 70.2 |
| 2022 | 97 | #1,734 | 55.6 |
| 2021 | 143 | #1,313 | 81.7 |
| 2020 | 144 | #1,272 | 83.4 |
| 2019 | 143 | #1,299 | 79.7 |
| 2018 | 139 | #1,311 | 76.5 |
| 2017 | 158 | #1,184 | 85.4 |
| 2016 | 132 | #1,352 | 69.6 |
Every recorded year (123)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 150 | #1,225 | 78.3 |
| 2014 | 141 | #1,267 | 73.4 |
| 2013 | 121 | #1,392 | 64.0 |
| 2012 | 127 | #1,341 | 66.9 |
| 2011 | 133 | #1,289 | 70.0 |
| 2010 | 111 | #1,475 | 57.9 |
| 2009 | 117 | #1,438 | 59.0 |
| 2008 | 100 | #1,587 | 49.0 |
| 2007 | 116 | #1,406 | 55.9 |
| 2006 | 114 | #1,394 | 55.5 |
| 2005 | 124 | #1,262 | 62.1 |
| 2004 | 124 | #1,225 | 62.5 |
| 2003 | 106 | #1,311 | 53.7 |
| 2002 | 118 | #1,185 | 60.8 |
| 2001 | 142 | #1,036 | 73.1 |
| 2000 | 144 | #1,015 | 73.3 |
| 1999 | 134 | #1,034 | 69.8 |
| 1998 | 146 | #951 | 76.4 |
| 1997 | 152 | #902 | 80.6 |
| 1996 | 141 | #926 | 74.4 |
| 1995 | 126 | #986 | 66.2 |
| 1994 | 122 | #1,002 | 63.1 |
| 1993 | 117 | #1,015 | 59.7 |
| 1992 | 112 | #1,031 | 56.1 |
| 1991 | 97 | #1,108 | 48.0 |
| 1990 | 86 | #1,172 | 41.9 |
| 1989 | 58 | #1,435 | 29.0 |
| 1988 | 37 | #1,824 | 19.3 |
| 1987 | 44 | #1,592 | 23.6 |
| 1986 | 50 | #1,406 | 27.2 |
| 1985 | 59 | #1,248 | 31.9 |
| 1984 | 59 | #1,193 | 32.7 |
| 1983 | 60 | #1,170 | 33.5 |
| 1982 | 56 | #1,247 | 30.9 |
| 1981 | 60 | #1,192 | 33.5 |
| 1980 | 55 | #1,246 | 30.8 |
| 1979 | 57 | #1,213 | 33.1 |
| 1978 | 43 | #1,418 | 26.2 |
| 1977 | 47 | #1,325 | 28.6 |
| 1976 | 33 | #1,627 | 21.0 |
| 1975 | 42 | #1,352 | 26.9 |
| 1974 | 47 | #1,224 | 29.9 |
| 1973 | 33 | #1,487 | 21.2 |
| 1972 | 23 | #1,890 | 14.2 |
| 1971 | 29 | #1,649 | 16.4 |
| 1970 | 18 | #2,164 | 9.7 |
| 1969 | 19 | #1,935 | 10.6 |
| 1968 | 19 | #1,863 | 10.9 |
| 1967 | 14 | #2,193 | 8.0 |
| 1966 | 13 | #2,276 | 7.3 |
| 1965 | 12 | #2,409 | 6.5 |
| 1964 | 19 | #1,869 | 9.5 |
| 1963 | 14 | #2,250 | 6.9 |
| 1962 | 14 | #2,227 | 6.8 |
| 1961 | 22 | #1,760 | 10.4 |
| 1960 | 9 | #2,960 | 4.2 |
| 1959 | 17 | #2,005 | 8.0 |
| 1958 | 13 | #2,310 | 6.1 |
| 1957 | 15 | #2,135 | 7.0 |
| 1956 | 12 | #2,425 | 5.7 |
| 1955 | 15 | #2,086 | 7.3 |
| 1954 | 20 | #1,729 | 9.8 |
| 1953 | 14 | #2,144 | 7.1 |
| 1952 | 22 | #1,640 | 11.3 |
| 1951 | 14 | #2,093 | 7.4 |
| 1950 | 22 | #1,586 | 12.3 |
| 1949 | 20 | #1,683 | 11.3 |
| 1948 | 13 | #2,163 | 7.4 |
| 1947 | 13 | #2,200 | 7.1 |
| 1946 | 15 | #1,917 | 9.2 |
| 1945 | 12 | #2,053 | 8.9 |
| 1944 | 8 | #2,738 | 5.9 |
| 1943 | 17 | #1,797 | 11.9 |
| 1942 | 20 | #1,605 | 14.5 |
| 1941 | 10 | #2,407 | 8.1 |
| 1940 | 18 | #1,658 | 15.5 |
| 1939 | 17 | #1,671 | 15.4 |
| 1938 | 18 | #1,644 | 16.2 |
| 1937 | 22 | #1,470 | 20.6 |
| 1936 | 23 | #1,403 | 22.2 |
| 1935 | 22 | #1,469 | 21.1 |
| 1934 | 26 | #1,340 | 25.2 |
| 1933 | 24 | #1,382 | 24.2 |
| 1932 | 25 | #1,406 | 23.9 |
| 1931 | 20 | #1,609 | 19.2 |
| 1930 | 26 | #1,443 | 23.7 |
| 1929 | 20 | #1,702 | 18.6 |
| 1928 | 27 | #1,432 | 24.4 |
| 1927 | 29 | #1,390 | 25.7 |
| 1926 | 46 | #1,024 | 41.4 |
| 1925 | 28 | #1,406 | 25.1 |
| 1924 | 25 | #1,550 | 22.1 |
| 1923 | 35 | #1,226 | 31.9 |
| 1922 | 38 | #1,172 | 34.9 |
| 1921 | 36 | #1,212 | 32.7 |
| 1920 | 37 | #1,194 | 34.8 |
| 1919 | 31 | #1,285 | 31.6 |
| 1918 | 28 | #1,360 | 27.6 |
| 1917 | 43 | #999 | 46.5 |
| 1916 | 49 | #905 | 55.1 |
| 1915 | 38 | #1,044 | 44.8 |
| 1914 | 36 | #921 | 55.0 |
| 1913 | 23 | #1,064 | 44.9 |
| 1912 | 31 | #789 | 72.1 |
| 1911 | 8 | #1,333 | 35.4 |
| 1910 | 9 | #1,158 | 46.3 |
| 1907 | 5 | #1,443 | 34.1 |
| 1904 | 6 | #1,137 | 46.8 |
| 1901 | 6 | #996 | 56.4 |
| 1896 | 5 | #1,175 | 41.8 |
| 1893 | 7 | #870 | 62.3 |
| 1892 | 5 | #1,160 | 41.0 |
| 1880 | 6 | #870 | 54.3 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Ishmael a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Ishmael has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 123 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Ishmael: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Ishmael, and how old are they?
5,630 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 83% of the 6,794 Americans ever recorded as Ishmael. The median Ishmael alive today is 23 years old; half are between 11 and 34.
The 2020 Census counted 4,934 people named Ishmael (21 women and girls, 4,913 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 5,053 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 58 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 200 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 452 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,230 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,970 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,720 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Ishmael born?
The states with the most babies named Ishmael are Texas, Florida and New York, with 66% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 19 | #1,148 | 0.7× |
| Florida | 17 | #859 | 1.5× |
| New York | 12 | #1,013 | 1.3× |
| California | 10 | #1,636 | 0.9× |
| Pennsylvania | 5 | #1,316 | 0.8× |
| North Carolina | 5 | #1,354 | 0.6× |
| Virginia | 5 | #1,153 | 0.2× |
Where Ishmael is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Ishmael is most over-represented in Florida: since 1910 it was given 1.5 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Ishmael with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 5 names spelled alike, given to 51,889 babies since 1880, Ishmael is the second most given (13% of them). In 2025 it was given to 121 of their 1,428 babies (8.5%), again the second most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Ishmael
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Ishmael and names like it
- Compare Ishmael and IsmaelBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2010sIshmael peaked in 2017.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Ishmael since 1910.
- Hebrew namesWiktionary’s origin for Ishmael: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2017The year the most babies were named Ishmael.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Ishmael alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with IMost given first.