Ishmael
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "God hears".
Name Census estimates that about 5,607 living Americans carry the first name Ishmael. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ishmael today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ishmael births was 2017 (158 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ishmael. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ishmael with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
5.6K
~ 1 in 61,130 Americans
Peak year
2017
158 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,498
Tracked since 1880
Census
Ishmael in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,935 people with the first name Ishmael, which placed it at #3,952 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
#3,952
National first-name rank
People counted
4.9K
4,935 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
51.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ishmael
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ishmael is Black at 51.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (32.7%) and White (8.2%). 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 Ishmael 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 Ishmael at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American51.6% · 2,545
- Hispanic or Latino32.7% · 1,613
- White8.2% · 403
- Two or more races3.8% · 188
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 157
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 29
Popularity
Ishmael: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ishmael from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,355 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ishmael remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ishmael 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 Ishmael during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ishmaels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 25 states and territories. California, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Ishmael, while West Virginia, Alabama, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 134 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ishmael
The name Ishmael has its origins in the Hebrew language and is derived from the biblical name Yishma'el, which means "God hears" or "God has hearkened." The name is first mentioned in the Book of Genesis, where Ishmael is the son of Abraham and his Egyptian concubine Hagar.
Ishmael is a significant figure in the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In the Islamic tradition, Ishmael is regarded as a prophet and is believed to have assisted his father Abraham in the construction of the Kaaba, the sacred shrine in Mecca. The Quran also mentions Ishmael as one of the righteous servants of God.
The earliest recorded use of the name Ishmael dates back to ancient times, and it has been found in various historical records and texts throughout the centuries. One of the earliest known individuals named Ishmael was Ishmael ibn Muhammad, a Persian poet who lived in the 9th century CE.
Another notable figure with the name Ishmael was Ishmael ibn Amir, a 10th-century Arab prince and military commander who played a significant role in the establishment of the Hamdanid dynasty in northern Syria and Iraq.
In literature, the name Ishmael is perhaps most famously associated with the character of Ishmael, the narrator of Herman Melville's classic novel "Moby-Dick," published in 1851. Melville's Ishmael is a complex and philosophical character who narrates the tale of Captain Ahab's obsessive pursuit of the white whale.
Another famous individual named Ishmael was Ishmael Reed, an American novelist, poet, and essayist born in 1938. Reed is known for his satirical and experimental writing, which often explores themes of race, culture, and identity.
In the realm of politics, Ishmael Toroama, born in 1962, is a notable figure who served as the President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea from 2020 to 2023.
Overall, the name Ishmael has a rich history and has been borne by numerous individuals across various cultures and time periods, ranging from biblical figures and poets to novelists and political leaders.
People
Ishmael + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ishmael 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
Ishmael: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ishmael?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,607 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ishmael 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 61,130 US residents.
Is Ishmael a common name?
We classify Ishmael as "Rare". It ranks above 96.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,671 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ishmael most popular?
The single biggest year for Ishmael was 2017, when 158 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ishmael is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ishmael in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,935 people with the name Ishmael, or 1.63 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,952 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 Ishmael 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 Ishmael?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ishmael appears almost entirely male. Of the 4,934 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Ishmael?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ishmael is Black at 51.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (32.7%) and White (8.2%). 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 Ishmael most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Ishmael in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.6% (2,545 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 Ishmael in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ishmael a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ishmael 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 Ishmael still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ishmael 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 Ishmael 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 common is the name Ishmael?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Ishmael on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.