How Many People Are Named Ishmael?
people named Ishmael are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 60,546 people in the US has this name
Based on 6,794 babies named Ishmael in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
ππ Very Rare
Peak Year
158 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
π Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
From the Hebrew name ΧΦ΄Χ©ΧΦ°ΧΦΈΧ’Φ΅ΧΧ (Yishma'el) meaning "God will hear". In the Old Testament this is the name of a son of Abraham. He is the traditional ancestor of the Arab people. Also in the Old Testament, it is borne by a man who assassinates Gedaliah the governor of Judah. The author Herman Melville later used this name for the narrator in his novel 'Moby-Dick' (1851).
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
β§ Gender Distribution
All of the babies given the name Ishmael in the records were boys.
π₯ Age Distribution
The average person named Ishmael alive today is about 24 years old, and 68% are under 30. Half of them were between 10 and 33 in 2025.
π Popularity Over Time
Ishmael first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 2017, to 158 babies. In 2025, 121 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
π Rank History
Ishmael has never been one of the 100 most popular boys' names. Its best rank was #789, in 1912. In 2025 it ranked #1,469.
| Boys | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #1,469 |
| Best rank | #789 (1912) |
| Years in the top 100 | None |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #1,304 in the 2010s |
π State-Wise Distribution
People named Ishmael alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Ishmael were born in California than in any other state: about 647 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Ishmael was given 2.7 times as often in New York, 2.5 times in Florida and 2.2 times in Kentucky.
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