Ismeal
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "God listens" or "God hears".
Name Census estimates that about 80 living Americans carry the first name Ismeal. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ismeal today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ismeal births was 1989 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ismeal. 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 Ismeal. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
80
~ 1 in 4,284,429 Americans
Peak year
1989
7 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2007 SSA rank
#10,184
Tracked since 1955
Census
Ismeal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 417 people with the first name Ismeal, which placed it at #23,447 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
#23,447
National first-name rank
People counted
417
417 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
82.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ismeal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ismeal is Hispanic at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Black (11.8%) and White (4.3%). 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 Ismeal 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 Ismeal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino82.0% · 342
- Black or African American11.8% · 49
- White4.3% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
- Two or more races0.2% · 1
Popularity
Ismeal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ismeal from the 1950s through to the 2000s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 34 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Ismeal remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ismeal 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 Ismeal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ismeal
The name Ismeal has its roots in the Arabic language and culture, originating in the Middle East during ancient times. It is derived from the word "Isma'il," which means "God has hearkened" or "God hears."
This name holds significant religious significance in Islam, as it is the Arabic form of the biblical name Ishmael. Ishmael was the firstborn son of the prophet Abraham, as mentioned in the Quran and the Bible. He is considered an important figure in both Islam and Judaism, and his name is revered by followers of these faiths.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Ismeal can be found in the Quran, where Ishmael is mentioned as the son of Abraham and Hagar. The Quran speaks highly of Ishmael, describing him as a patient and obedient son who helped his father build the Kaaba, the sacred site in Mecca.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Ismeal or its variations. One of the most famous was Ismael I (1487-1524), the founder of the Safavid Dynasty in Persia (present-day Iran). He established Shia Islam as the state religion and played a significant role in the cultural and political development of the region.
Another notable figure was Ismail I (1057-1087), the first ruler of the Seljuk Empire, which spanned parts of modern-day Turkey, Iran, and Central Asia. He is remembered for his military conquests and his efforts to revive Sunni Islam in the region.
In the realm of literature, Ismael (1908-1994) was the pen name of the influential Brazilian writer Alfredo Borges de Matos. His novel "Vidas Secas" (Barren Lives) is considered a masterpiece of Brazilian literature and a seminal work in the regionalist movement.
Ismail Kadare (born 1936) is an Albanian novelist and poet, widely regarded as one of the most influential writers in the Balkans. His works, such as "The General of the Dead Army" and "The Palace of Dreams," explore themes of totalitarianism, history, and the human condition.
Ismail Merchant (1936-2005) was an Indian-born film producer and director, best known for his collaborations with director James Ivory and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Their films, including "A Room with a View" and "Howards End," brought critical acclaim and introduced Western audiences to Indian literature and culture.
People
Ismeal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ismeal 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
Ismeal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ismeal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 80 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ismeal 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 4,284,429 US residents.
Is Ismeal a common name?
We classify Ismeal as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 85 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ismeal most popular?
The single biggest year for Ismeal was 1989, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ismeal is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ismeal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 417 people with the name Ismeal, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,447 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 Ismeal 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 Ismeal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ismeal appears almost entirely male. Of the 412 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Ismeal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ismeal is Hispanic at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Black (11.8%) and White (4.3%). 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 Ismeal most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Ismeal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.0% (342 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 Ismeal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ismeal a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ismeal 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 Ismeal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ismeal 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 Ismeal 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 are named Ismeal?
Want to know how many people have the name Ismeal? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.