Ishmael
Ishmael is outside the top 1,000 in 2024, with 119 births. Its best rank was 789th, in 1912.
- Rank in 2024
- —outside the top 1,000
- Births in 2024
- 1190.01% of boys
- Peak year
- 2017158 births
- Best rank
- #789in 1912
- Since 1880
- 6,671people given the name
The story in the numbers
6,671 boys have been named Ishmael in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 2017, with 158 births.
It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years.
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1998, and the 2010s alone account for 20%. It has spent 11 of 145 years in the top 1,000.
Rank among boys, year by year
By decade
| Decade | boys named Ishmael | |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 6 | |
| 1890s | 17 | |
| 1900s | 17 | |
| 1910s | 296 | |
| 1920s | 321 | |
| 1930s | 223 | |
| 1940s | 146 | |
| 1950s | 164 | |
| 1960s | 155 | |
| 1970s | 372 | |
| 1980s | 538 | |
| 1990s | 1,233 | |
| 2000s | 1,205 | |
| 2010s | 1,355 | |
| 2020s | 623 |
In 2017, its biggest year
Ishmael was outside the top 1,000 that year. The top five boys’ names of 2017 were Liam, Noah, William, James and Logan. See all of 2017.
Names that rose and fell with Ishmael
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Ivanpeak 2004
- Armonpeak 2023
- Alstonpeak 2017
- Marianopeak 2022
- Saulpeak 2006
- Vicentepeak 2023
- Obedpeak 2005
- Giacomopeak 2006
Other spellings in the data
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.