Find out how popular the last name Israel is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Israel.

Israel, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Israel surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Israel in America

Israel is the 3488th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Israel surname appeared 10,245 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Israel.

We can also compare 2010 data for Israel to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Israel

The surname Israel has its origins in the ancient Hebrew name Yisrael, meaning "one who struggles with God" or "one who has prevailed with God." It is derived from the biblical figure Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel after he wrestled with an angel of God (Genesis 32:28).

The name Israel first appeared as a surname among Jewish communities in the Middle Ages. It was likely adopted as a way to identify individuals or families with a connection to the land of Israel or as a reflection of their religious and cultural heritage.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Israel can be found in the Aramaic documents of the Cairo Geniza, a collection of medieval Jewish manuscripts discovered in the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Old Cairo, Egypt. These documents date back to the 11th and 12th centuries.

In the 13th century, the surname Israel is mentioned in the Taxatio Ecclesiastica, a record of ecclesiastical taxes in England. This suggests that individuals bearing the surname had settled in England by that time.

Notable individuals with the surname Israel throughout history include:

1. Benjamin Israel (1616-1669), a Dutch philosopher and writer who was one of the first to argue for the separation of church and state.
2. Menasseh ben Israel (1604-1657), a Portuguese-Dutch rabbi and scholar who played a significant role in the readmission of Jews to England in the 17th century.
3. Manasseh Israel (1772-1847), an American soldier and politician who served as the first Jewish governor of South Carolina from 1799 to 1802.
4. Isaac Israel (1629-1707), a Dutch merchant and philanthropist who was influential in the Jewish community of Amsterdam.
5. Jonathan Israel (born 1946), a British historian and academic who has written extensively on the Enlightenment and the Dutch Golden Age.

The surname Israel has also been associated with various place names, such as Israel's Field in Gloucestershire, England, and Israel's Town in Jamaica, which was named after the Jewish settler families who established the town in the 17th century.

While the surname Israel has its roots in the ancient Hebrew name and the biblical figure, it has become a widespread surname across various cultures and regions, reflecting the global dispersion of Jewish communities and the adoption of the name by individuals of diverse backgrounds.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Israel

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Israel.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Israel was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Israel has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Israel was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Israel, please contact us.

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