Issah
A name of Arabic origin meaning "follower of Jesus Christ".
Name Census estimates that about 65 living Americans carry the first name Issah. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Issah today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Issah births was 2018 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Issah. 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 Issah. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
65
~ 1 in 5,273,144 Americans
Peak year
2018
10 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2021 SSA rank
#10,133
Tracked since 1995
Popularity
Issah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Issah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 27 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Issah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Issah 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 Issah 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 Issah
The name Issah has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, with roots tracing back to the 7th century CE. Its earliest form, 'Isa, is derived from the Semitic root 'y-sh-a', meaning 'to live' or 'to be alive'. Issah is a variant spelling and pronunciation of the Arabic name 'Isa', which is itself a cognate of the Hebrew name 'Yeshua' or 'Yeshu'a', from which the English name 'Jesus' is derived.
In the Islamic tradition, Issah (or 'Isa) is the Arabic name used to refer to Jesus Christ, who is revered as a prophet and messenger of God. The name appears numerous times in the Quran, the central religious text of Islam, and is mentioned in various Hadith (sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad).
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Issah is in the 7th-century Arabic text "Sirat Rasul Allah" (The Life of the Messenger of God) by Ibn Ishaq. This work, which chronicles the life of the Prophet Muhammad, refers to Jesus as 'Isa.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Issah or its variants. One such figure is Issah Ibn Maryam (c. 6th century BCE), who is believed to have been a prominent religious leader and teacher in Arabia before the advent of Islam.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Issah al-Nuri (1782-1837), an influential Sufi scholar and spiritual leader from modern-day Iran. He was renowned for his writings on Islamic mysticism and his teachings on spiritual purification.
In the 19th century, Issah al-Masri (1815-1898) was an influential Egyptian scholar and jurist who played a significant role in the modernization of Islamic jurisprudence and legal reforms in Egypt.
The name Issah was also borne by Issah Alphonso (1901-1983), a renowned Ghanaian educationist and politician who advocated for the advancement of education and social development in Ghana.
Lastly, Issah Samor (1934-2015) was a prominent Burkinabé artist and sculptor, known for his intricate woodcarvings and sculptures depicting traditional West African themes and cultural motifs.
People
Issah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Issah 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
Issah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Issah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 65 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Issah 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 5,273,144 US residents.
Is Issah a common name?
We classify Issah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 66 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Issah most popular?
The single biggest year for Issah was 2018, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Issah is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Issah a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Issah 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.
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.