Isamel
A baby boy's name meaning "God has listened".
Name Census estimates that about 6 living Americans carry the first name Isamel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Isamel today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Isamel births was 1981 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Isamel. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Isamel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
6
~ 1 in 57,125,723 Americans
Peak year
1981
6 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
1981 SSA rank
#5,794
Tracked since 1981
Census
Isamel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 165 people with the first name Isamel, which placed it at #43,061 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#43,061
National first-name rank
People counted
165
165 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
98.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Isamel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isamel is Hispanic at 98.8%. The next largest groups are White (0.6%) and Black (0.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Isamel described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Isamel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino98.8% · 163
- White0.6% · 1
- Black or African American0.6% · 1
Popularity
Isamel: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Isamel by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Isamel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Isamel
The name Isamel has its origins in the Semitic languages of the Middle East, particularly Arabic and Hebrew. It is derived from the root word "Isma'il" which translates to "God has hearkened" or "God has heard".
The earliest references to the name can be found in the Quran and the Bible, where Ishmael (or Isma'il) is mentioned as the son of the prophet Abraham. In the Islamic tradition, Ishmael is considered an important prophet and is revered as the ancestor of the Arab people.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Isamel was Ishmael I, the seventh ruler of the Shia Safavid dynasty in Persia (modern-day Iran). He ruled from 1576 to 1577 and was known for his efforts to centralize power and consolidate the Safavid Empire.
In the 13th century, Isamel al-Malik al-Muazzam was a prominent Muslim ruler who served as the Governor of Damascus and later became the Sultan of Damascus and parts of Syria. He played a significant role in the Seventh Crusade and the defense of the region against the Crusaders.
Another notable figure in history with the name Isamel was Isamel Pasha, an Ottoman statesman and military leader who served as the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire in the late 16th century. He is remembered for his victories against the Safavid Empire and his efforts to modernize the Ottoman military.
In the realm of literature, Isamel Kadare is a renowned Albanian novelist and poet who was born in 1936. He is considered one of the most influential writers in the Balkans and has received numerous international awards for his works, which often explore themes of totalitarianism and the human condition.
Isamel Merchant, born in 1936 in Bombay, India, was a prominent film producer and director who collaborated closely with director James Ivory. Together, they formed the acclaimed Merchant Ivory Productions, known for their period dramas set in India and England, such as "A Room with a View" and "The Remains of the Day".
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the name Isamel, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of cultural and historical narratives associated with this ancient and meaningful name.
People
Isamel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Isamel as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Isamel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Isamel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Isamel going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 57,125,723 US residents.
Is Isamel a common name?
We classify Isamel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 22.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Isamel most popular?
The single biggest year for Isamel was 1981, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Isamel is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Isamel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 165 people with the name Isamel, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,061 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Isamel in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Isamel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Isamel leans strongly male. 154 people counted with this name were male (91.1%), compared with 15 female bearers (8.9%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Isamel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isamel is Hispanic at 98.8%. The next largest groups are White (0.6%) and Black (0.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Isamel most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Isamel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.8% (163 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Isamel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Isamel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Isamel in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Isamel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Isamel in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Isamel can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Isamel?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Isamel on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.