Ismaaeel
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "God has heard" or "God will hear".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Ismaaeel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ismaaeel today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ismaaeel births was 2003 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ismaaeel. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ismaaeel with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ismaaeel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2003
5 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2003 SSA rank
#11,562
Tracked since 2003
Popularity
Ismaaeel: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Ismaaeel 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 Ismaaeel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Ismaaeel
The name Ismaaeel is an Arabic variant of the name Ishmael, derived from the Semitic root word "sh-m-'a" which means "to hear" or "to listen." It is believed to originate from the ancient Middle Eastern region, particularly from the biblical and Quranic traditions.
In the Hebrew Bible, Ishmael is the son of Abraham and Hagar, the Egyptian handmaiden. He is considered the progenitor of the Ishmaelites, and his story is recounted in the book of Genesis. In the Islamic tradition, Ismaaeel is the firstborn son of the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) and his wife Hajar (Hagar). He plays a significant role in the story of the construction of the Kaaba in Mecca, and Muslims consider him an important figure in their religious history.
The earliest recorded use of the name Ismaaeel can be traced back to ancient Semitic cultures and is found in various ancient texts, including the Hebrew Bible and the Quran. In the Quran, Ismaaeel is mentioned several times, and his story is closely intertwined with that of his father, Ibrahim.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Ismaaeel or its variants. One of the earliest recorded was Ishmael I, the Shah of Persia from 1501 to 1524, who established the Safavid dynasty. Another prominent figure was Ismail Pasha, an Egyptian governor of Syria and Palestine in the 19th century, who played a significant role in the development of modern Egypt.
Ismail Yasin, also known as Ismail al-Naqib, was a prominent Iraqi poet and philosopher who lived in the 9th century CE. His works significantly influenced the development of Arabic literature and philosophy during the Abbasid Caliphate. Ismail Kadare, born in 1936, is an acclaimed Albanian novelist, poet, and playwright, known for his literary works that explore themes of totalitarianism and the human condition.
In more recent times, Ismail Merchant, an Indian-born film producer and director, gained international recognition for his collaborations with James Ivory and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, producing award-winning films like "A Room with a View" and "Howards End." He was born in 1936 and passed away in 2005.
People
Ismaaeel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ismaaeel 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
Ismaaeel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ismaaeel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ismaaeel 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Ismaaeel a common name?
We classify Ismaaeel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ismaaeel most popular?
The single biggest year for Ismaaeel was 2003, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ismaaeel is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Ismaaeel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ismaaeel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ismaaeel 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 Ismaaeel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ismaaeel 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 Ismaaeel 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Ismaaeel?
You can see how many people have the name Ismaaeel on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.