Ismael

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Ismail in TR Türkiye, ID Indonesia, IN India and 9 more, Исмаил in RU Russia, KZ Kazakhstan, KG Kyrgyzstan and Исмоил in UZ Uzbekistan.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 16 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Ismael is also recorded as 9 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Catalan given name57K records spelled Ismael2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Spain, Argentina, Andorra

  Also written Ismaël

• a separate given name34K records spelled Ismael6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Ecuador, India, Ethiopia

  Also written Ismaël, Ismaêl, Ismaēl, Ismäel, Ismae͏̈l

• Swahili given name31K records spelled Ismael12 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Kenya, United States, Philippines, Spain

  Languages: Swahili, Southern Sotho, Kinyarwanda

  Also written Ismaèl, Ismaël, Isma'El, Ismaél, Ismäël

• Indonesian given name11K records spelled Ismael11 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Philippines, United States, Indonesia, Spain

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written Ismaël, Ismaèl, Isma'El, Ismaêl, Ismăel

• French (Côte d’Ivoire) given name5.3K records spelled Ismael2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Côte d’Ivoire

  Also written Ismaël

• Thai given name4.5K records spelled Ismael107 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Thailand, Laos, Türkiye, India

  Languages: Thai, Lao

  Also written อิสมาแอ, อิสมะแอ, Ismail, อิสมาแอล, Ismaae

• Finnish given name2.7K records spelled Ismael6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, United States, Spain, Philippines

  Languages: Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Ismaël, Ïsmäël, Ismäël

• Russian given name2.2K records spelled Ismael17 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Iraq, Türkiye, Spain

  Languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian

  Also written Исмаел, Ісмаель, Исмаель, Исмаэл, Ісмаел

• Hungarian given name1.0K records spelled Ismael3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Hungary, United States, Spain, Peru

  Also written Ĩśmáĕĺ, Ismáél

69 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Ismael is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Spanish, Ishmael (biblical character)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In English, Obsolete form of Ishmael.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• God listens; Ismael (Gen 16, 11)

  as a name·Dicionario Sefaradi De SobrenomesDictionary Of Sephardic Surnames Inclusive Cristaos-Novos, Conversos, Marranos, Italianos,…

• In Spanish, Hebreo: 'Dios escucha' o 'Dios oyó'.

  as a name·Diccionario etimológico de nombres propios

• In French, Origine hébraïque, « Dieu entendra ».

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

EC INEC — Visualizador de Nombres y Apellidos, per-token query API (1900–2024) — 124 years between 1901–2024. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Ismail Samanib. 849KGnot in their usual nameAmir of the Samanid Empire from 892 to 907
• Ibn Kathirb. 1301SYnot in their usual nameSyrian Islamic historian, exegete and scholar (c.1300–1373)
• Ismail Ib. 1487IRnot in their usual namefounder and first shah of Safavid Iran
• Ismail IIb. 1533IRnot in their usual nameSafavid Shah of Iran from 1576 to 1577
• Ismail Ibn Sharifb. 1645MAnot in their usual nameSultan of Morocco from 1672 to 1727
• Isma'il Pashab. 1831EGnot in their usual nameKhedive of Egypt from 1863 to 1879
• Ismail al-Faruqib. 1921USnot in their usual namePalestinian-American Muslim philosopher and scholar (1921–1986)
• Ismail Merchantb. 1936INnot in their usual nameIndian film producer (1936–2005)
• Ismail Omar Guellehb. 1947FRnot in their usual namePresident of Djibouti since 1999
• Ismail Haniyehb. 1962PSnot in their usual nameHamas leader (1962–2025)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,230 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Ismael?

We estimate roughly 661 thousand people bear Ismael (counting its spellings and scripts) across 8 countries in our records.

In which country does Ismael have the most bearers?

Ismael is most frequently recorded in Indonesia, where it is most often spelled ismail.

How common is Ismael compared with other names?

In Indonesia, Ismael is the 15th most common given name of 232,466 given names recorded there.

Is Ismael a male or female name?

Ismael is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Ismael mean?

Recorded meaning: Ishmael (eldest son of Abraham)