Isael
Hebrew name meaning "God has planted" or "God will plant".
Name Census estimates that about 2,900 living Americans carry the first name Isael. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Isael today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Isael births was 2024 (243 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Isael. 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
- • Isael is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.9K
~ 1 in 118,191 Americans
Peak year
2024
243 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#942
Tracked since 1978
Census
Isael in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,669 people with the first name Isael, which placed it at #6,106 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#6,106
National first-name rank
People counted
2.7K
2,669 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
96.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Isael
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isael is Hispanic at 96.7%. The next largest groups are White (1.6%) and Black (1.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Isael described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Isael at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino96.7% · 2,581
- White1.6% · 43
- Black or African American1.1% · 30
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 5
- Two or more races0.0% · 1
Popularity
Isael: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Isael from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 901 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Isael 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 Isael during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Isaels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. California, Texas, Arizona recorded the most babies named Isael, while Utah, Oklahoma, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 102 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Isael
The name Isael has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is a variant spelling of the biblical name "Ishmael," which means "God hears" or "God has hearkened." The name is derived from the Hebrew root "shama," meaning "to hear," and the prefix "El," referring to God.
The name Ishmael appears in various religious texts, including the Hebrew Bible and the Quran. In the book of Genesis, Ishmael is depicted as the firstborn son of Abraham through his wife's handmaid, Hagar. He is considered an important figure in both Judaism and Islam, as he is regarded as the progenitor of the Ishmaelites, an ancient Arab tribe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Isael can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Josephus, who lived in the first century AD. He mentions an individual named "Isael" in his work "Antiquities of the Jews."
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Isael. One such figure was Isael ben Elisha, a Jewish scholar who lived in the 11th century and wrote commentaries on the Talmud. Another was Isael ben Abraham Nasi, a 16th-century Jewish scholar and Kabbalist from Safed, in present-day Israel.
In the realm of literature, Isael appears as a character in the epic poem "Paradise Lost" by John Milton, published in 1667. In the poem, Isael is depicted as an angel who accompanies the archangel Michael on a journey.
Among religious leaders, Isael Baal Shem Tov, who lived from 1698 to 1760, was a prominent figure in the Hasidic Jewish movement. He is revered for his teachings and contributions to Jewish mysticism.
Another notable individual with the name Isael was Isael Benavides, a Mexican painter and engraver who lived from 1894 to 1975. He was known for his depictions of rural life and landscapes in Mexico.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the name Isael, reflecting its ancient roots and cultural significance across various traditions and time periods.
People
Isael + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Isael 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
Isael: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Isael?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,900 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Isael 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 118,191 US residents.
Is Isael a common name?
We classify Isael as "Rare". It ranks above 95.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,932 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Isael most popular?
The single biggest year for Isael was 2024, when 243 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Isael is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Isael in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,669 people with the name Isael, or 0.88 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,106 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Isael in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Isael?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Isael leans strongly male. 2,636 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 29 female bearers (1.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Isael?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isael is Hispanic at 96.7%. The next largest groups are White (1.6%) and Black (1.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Isael most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Isael in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.7% (2,581 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Isael in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Isael a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Isael 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 Isael still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Isael 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 Isael 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.
How many people have Isael as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.