Meaning not yet researched.
Ishmael: US boys given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 121 in 2025. Its best rank was #789 in 1912.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #789 in 1912; #1,469 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Ishmael in 2025 was a boy.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#1,469 for US boys in 2025. Its best year was 1912, at #789.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Ishmael: US boys given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 121 boys in 2025. Peak: #789 in 1912 · most boys in one year: 158 (2017).
In 2025, 121 US boys were named Ishmael, making it the 1,469th most common boys’ name of the year, up 19 places from #1,488 in 2024. That is 0 more than the 121 boys named Ishmael in 2024. Its best rank for boys was #789, reached in 1912. The most boys given the name in a single year was 158, in 2017. For comparison, it was #1,225 in 2015 and #1,587 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Ishmael in 123 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1880 with 6 babies. In all, 6,794 US babies have been given the name, all of them boys. Its busiest decade was the 2010s, with 1,355 babies named Ishmael.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 1,318 US boys were named Ishmael; the busiest of those years was 2017, with 158. In 2025 that was about 1 in 14,116 of the boys in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Ishmael ranked highest in Florida in 2025, at #859 for boys there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Ismael (44,289 babies since 1880) and Ismail (4,022 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Ishmeal, Ishmel and Ishmail are summarised on this page.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Rare spellings summarised here: Ishmeal (301), Ishmel (297), Ishmail (208), Ishmil (19).
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
No nicknames listed for Ishmael in the open dataset we use.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
US boys. Rank within each state. SSA leaves out states where fewer than five boys got the name, so 44 are not listed.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank 2025 | Rank 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 17 | #859 | #888 |
| New York | 12 | #1,013 | #875 |
| Texas | 19 | #1,148 | #1,992 |
| Virginia | 5 | #1,153 | — |
| Pennsylvania | 5 | #1,316 | #674 |
| North Carolina | 5 | #1,354 | — |
| California | 10 | #1,636 | #998 |
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | — | 121 | #1,469 |
| 2024 | — | — | 121 | #1,488 |
| 2023 | — | — | 120 | #1,493 |
| 2022 | — | — | 97 | #1,734 |
| 2021 | — | — | 143 | #1,313 |
| 2020 | — | — | 144 | #1,272 |
| 2019 | — | — | 143 | #1,299 |
| 2018 | — | — | 139 | #1,311 |
| 2017 | — | — | 158 | #1,184 |
| 2016 | — | — | 132 | #1,352 |
| 2015 | — | — | 150 | #1,225 |
| 2014 | — | — | 141 | #1,267 |
| 2013 | — | — | 121 | #1,392 |
| 2012 | — | — | 127 | #1,341 |
| 2011 | — | — | 133 | #1,289 |
| 2010 | — | — | 111 | #1,475 |
| 2009 | — | — | 117 | #1,438 |
| 2008 | — | — | 100 | #1,587 |
| 2007 | — | — | 116 | #1,406 |
| 2006 | — | — | 114 | #1,394 |
| 2005 | — | — | 124 | #1,263 |
| 2004 | — | — | 124 | #1,227 |
| 2003 | — | — | 106 | #1,312 |
| 2002 | — | — | 118 | #1,187 |
| 2001 | — | — | 142 | #1,037 |
| 2000 | — | — | 144 | #1,017 |
| 1999 | — | — | 134 | #1,036 |
| 1998 | — | — | 146 | #953 |
| 1997 | — | — | 152 | #904 |
| 1996 | — | — | 141 | #928 |
| 1995 | — | — | 126 | #989 |
| 1994 | — | — | 122 | #1,006 |
| 1993 | — | — | 117 | #1,019 |
| 1992 | — | — | 112 | #1,034 |
| 1991 | — | — | 97 | #1,114 |
| 1990 | — | — | 86 | #1,177 |
| 1989 | — | — | 58 | #1,440 |
| 1988 | — | — | 37 | #1,829 |
| 1987 | — | — | 44 | #1,594 |
| 1986 | — | — | 50 | #1,407 |
| 1985 | — | — | 59 | #1,249 |
| 1984 | — | — | 59 | #1,194 |
| 1983 | — | — | 60 | #1,170 |
| 1982 | — | — | 56 | #1,248 |
| 1981 | — | — | 60 | #1,192 |
| 1980 | — | — | 55 | #1,246 |
| 1979 | — | — | 57 | #1,213 |
| 1978 | — | — | 43 | #1,418 |
| 1977 | — | — | 47 | #1,325 |
| 1976 | — | — | 33 | #1,628 |
| 1975 | — | — | 42 | #1,352 |
| 1974 | — | — | 47 | #1,224 |
| 1973 | — | — | 33 | #1,487 |
| 1972 | — | — | 23 | #1,890 |
| 1971 | — | — | 29 | #1,650 |
| 1970 | — | — | 18 | #2,165 |
| 1969 | — | — | 19 | #1,936 |
| 1968 | — | — | 19 | #1,864 |
| 1967 | — | — | 14 | #2,194 |
| 1966 | — | — | 13 | #2,277 |
| 1965 | — | — | 12 | #2,410 |
| 1964 | — | — | 19 | #1,870 |
| 1963 | — | — | 14 | #2,251 |
| 1962 | — | — | 14 | #2,228 |
| 1961 | — | — | 22 | #1,761 |
| 1960 | — | — | 9 | #2,961 |
| 1959 | — | — | 17 | #2,006 |
| 1958 | — | — | 13 | #2,311 |
| 1957 | — | — | 15 | #2,136 |
| 1956 | — | — | 12 | #2,426 |
| 1955 | — | — | 15 | #2,087 |
| 1954 | — | — | 20 | #1,730 |
| 1953 | — | — | 14 | #2,145 |
| 1952 | — | — | 22 | #1,641 |
| 1951 | — | — | 14 | #2,094 |
| 1950 | — | — | 22 | #1,587 |
| 1949 | — | — | 20 | #1,684 |
| 1948 | — | — | 13 | #2,164 |
| 1947 | — | — | 13 | #2,201 |
| 1946 | — | — | 15 | #1,918 |
| 1945 | — | — | 12 | #2,054 |
| 1944 | — | — | 8 | #2,739 |
| 1943 | — | — | 17 | #1,798 |
| 1942 | — | — | 20 | #1,605 |
| 1941 | — | — | 10 | #2,407 |
| 1940 | — | — | 18 | #1,658 |
| 1939 | — | — | 17 | #1,671 |
| 1938 | — | — | 18 | #1,644 |
| 1937 | — | — | 22 | #1,470 |
| 1936 | — | — | 23 | #1,403 |
| 1935 | — | — | 22 | #1,469 |
| 1934 | — | — | 26 | #1,340 |
| 1933 | — | — | 24 | #1,382 |
| 1932 | — | — | 25 | #1,406 |
| 1931 | — | — | 20 | #1,609 |
| 1930 | — | — | 26 | #1,443 |
| 1929 | — | — | 20 | #1,702 |
| 1928 | — | — | 27 | #1,432 |
| 1927 | — | — | 29 | #1,390 |
| 1926 | — | — | 46 | #1,024 |
| 1925 | — | — | 28 | #1,406 |
| 1924 | — | — | 25 | #1,550 |
| 1923 | — | — | 35 | #1,226 |
| 1922 | — | — | 38 | #1,172 |
| 1921 | — | — | 36 | #1,212 |
| 1920 | — | — | 37 | #1,194 |
| 1919 | — | — | 31 | #1,285 |
| 1918 | — | — | 28 | #1,361 |
| 1917 | — | — | 43 | #999 |
| 1916 | — | — | 49 | #905 |
| 1915 | — | — | 38 | #1,044 |
| 1914 | — | — | 36 | #921 |
| 1913 | — | — | 23 | #1,064 |
| 1912 | — | — | 31 | #789 |
| 1911 | — | — | 8 | #1,334 |
| 1910 | — | — | 9 | #1,159 |
| 1907 | — | — | 5 | #1,444 |
| 1904 | — | — | 6 | #1,138 |
| 1901 | — | — | 6 | #997 |
| 1896 | — | — | 5 | #1,176 |
| 1893 | — | — | 7 | #870 |
| 1892 | — | — | 5 | #1,161 |
| 1880 | — | — | 6 | #870 |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).