Ismael
Top 1000
About Ismael
Ismael is Spanish and Portuguese rendition of the Biblical name Ishmael and the form used in the Greek New Testament. Currently, it is the variant that ranks most highly on the US charts and it is popular among the Hispanic community, both in the US, and globally.
Derived from Hebrew, Ismael means "God will hear", and in the Bible, he is the son of Abraham, the ancestor of the Arab people. While Ishmael is remembered as the narrator of Herman Melville's Moby Dick, Ismael is slightly sleeker, more internationally friendly, and popular in France, Spain, Brazil and Mexico.
With nicknames Mael and Izzy, Ismael is given to over 1400 babies every year in the US and was a fast rising name in 2024.
Pronounced eez-ma-ell.
As of October 2026, Ismael ranked #263 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #234 in 2024.
Editor's take: The name Ismael is a boy's name of Spanish origin meaning "God will hear".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #386 | 807 | 420.1 |
| 2015 | #401 | 772 | 402.8 |
| 2016 | #404 | 792 | 417.3 |
| 2017 | #391 | 814 | 439.8 |
| 2018 | #359 | 918 | 505.5 |
| 2019 | #365 | 875 | 487.7 |
| 2020 | #350 | 905 | 524.3 |
| 2021 | #351 | 926 | 529.3 |
| 2022 | #312 | 1,076 | 616.3 |
| 2023 | #244 | 1,425 | 833.1 |
| 2024 | #234 | 1,532 | 889.2 |
| 2025 | #263 | 1,307 | 765.2 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Ismael.
- Armando
- Esteban
- Nehorai
- Jamal
- Andrei
- Vicenzo
- Braulio
- Benito
- Drayton
- Simone
- Immanuel
- Daulton
- Vicente
- Moises
- Terence
- Ibrahim
- Enrique
- Antony
- Ramon
- Jamil
Ismael on lists
Famous Ismaels
- Ismael Serrano
Spanish songwriter
- Ismaël Bullialdus
French astronomer
- Ismael Cala
American journalist
- Ismael Rivera
Puerto Rican composer and singer of salsa music
- Ismael Blanco
Argentine footballer
- Ismael Urzaiz
Spanish footballer
- Ismael Reis (b. 2005)
son of Brazilian singer Nando Reis