Issay
An Arabic masculine name meaning "gift of God" or "messenger of God".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Issay. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Issay today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Issay births was 2009 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Issay. 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 Issay. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2009
5 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2009 SSA rank
#13,209
Tracked since 2009
Popularity
Issay: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Issay 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 Issay 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 Issay
The name Issay traces its origins to the Hebrew language and culture. It is believed to have emerged during the biblical era, derived from the Hebrew name Yishai, which means "gift from God" or "God's gift." The name Issay is a variation of this ancient Hebrew name, likely influenced by other languages and cultures over time.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Issay can be found in the Bible's Old Testament. Yishai, the father of King David, is mentioned in several books, including 1 Samuel and Ruth. This biblical connection suggests that the name Issay has been in use for thousands of years, carrying a deep religious and historical significance for those of Jewish and Christian faiths.
Throughout history, a number of notable individuals have borne the name Issay. One of the earliest recorded examples is Issay ben Abba (4th century CE), a renowned Talmudic scholar and Rabbi from ancient Israel. Another notable figure is Issay ibn Ishaq (10th century), a Jewish philosopher and physician from Spain during the Golden Age of Jewish culture in Andalusia.
In the 16th century, Issay ben Abraham Tsoref (1525-1592) was a prominent Jewish scholar and kabbalist from Safed, Palestine. His works on Jewish mysticism and the Kabbalah had a significant influence on Jewish thought and tradition.
Moving into the 19th century, Issay Gasprinsky (1851-1914) was a influential Crimean Tatar educator and reformer who played a key role in the development of modern Turkish literature and education.
More recently, Issay Dobroven (1891-1953) was a Russian-born American painter and sculptor known for his abstract and modernist works, which were exhibited in prestigious galleries and museums across the United States.
While the name Issay has its roots in ancient Hebrew and Jewish tradition, it has transcended cultural and religious boundaries, becoming a name recognized and used across various societies and ethnicities throughout history.
People
Issay + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Issay 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
Issay: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Issay?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Issay 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 Issay a common name?
We classify Issay 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 Issay most popular?
The single biggest year for Issay was 2009, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Issay is about 17 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 Issay in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Issay a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Issay 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 Issay still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Issay 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 Issay 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 many people have the name Issay?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Issay, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.