Name meaning & stats
Ishmael
Ishmael (Hebrew origin). 5,914 US babies since 1940, peak 2017.
What it means
No agreed meaning on record
Hebrew
In US birth records
Peak year: 2017
5,914 US babies were named Ishmael between 1940 and 2025.
Careers
Not enough notable people named Ishmael (or its spelling family) to say anything reliable yet. That's a gap in the data, not the name.
Spelling family
The most common spelling: 90% of the family
- Ishmael 90%
- Ishmeal 4%
- Ishmel 3%
- Ishmail 3%
Names that sound the same, grouped by Heyotag. Share of US babies since 1940.
Name twins (peaked around 2017)