Issa

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Isa in DE Germany, AT Austria, ES Spain, Isae in BR Brazil, AR Argentina, Исса in RU Russia and Ісса in UA Ukraine.

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◐

Issa is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Portuguese given name43K records spelled Issa107 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Spain

  Languages: Portuguese, Spanish

  Also written Isa, Isä, Ïsä, Isá, Issä

• Korean surname5.6K records spelled Issa7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Tanzania, United States, Malaysia, Nigeria

  Also written Isa, Isah, Yssa, Issah, Işa

• a separate surname4.3K records spelled Issa3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, Ethiopia, Iraq

  Also written Issá, Ïssa

• Danish surname4.2K records spelled Issa13 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Tanzania

  Languages: Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Swedish

  Also written Issã, Îssâ, Íssa, Iššä, Ïsså

• English given name1.1K records spelled Issa32 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Nigeria, Netherlands, United States, Brazil

  Languages: English, Western Frisian, Dutch

  Also written Isa, Işa, Ïsã, Is-A, Isã

• Polish given name917 records spelled Issa11 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Poland, United States, Türkiye, Spain

  Also written Isa, Işa, Ïssa, Issã, Îsså

74 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●

Issa 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.

• from the personal name 'ha, Arabic form of Hebrew Yeshua, Greek lesous (see Jesus). This name is bom by both Christian and Muslim Arabs. In Islam 'Isa is a prophet, ‘a messenger of Allah and his word’ (Qur’an 4:171). In the Qur’an 19:30, he proclaims, ‘He (Allah) has given me the Book and estabhshed me as a Prophet.’

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In French, a male given name from Arabic, widely used in Islamic North and West Africa

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

• In English, Contraction of it's a.

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

• In Swedish, Issa (Isa) är ett arabiskt namn, det muslimska namnet för Jesus.

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• In Swahili, Swahili: 'God is our salvation'.

  as a name·African Names

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●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 56 years between 1969–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Abdullahi Issab. 1922SOPrime Minister of the Trust Territory of Somalia , the Designer of the Somali Flag & the party Leader of S.Y.L ( Somali Youth League) ,(Born in 1922 and died in 1988)
• Darrell Issab. 1953USAmerican politician, inventor and entrepreneur
• Ayisha Issab. 1953CACanadian actress and martial arts practitioner
• Marwan Issab. 1965PSHamas military commander (1965–2024)
• Pierre Issab. 1975FRSouth African footballer
• Iman Issab. 1979EGEgyptian multi-disciplinary artist (born 1979)
• Martha Issováb. 1981CZnot in their usual nameCzech actress
• Majida Issab. 1981COColombian actress and singer
• Manal Issab. 1992FRFrench and Lebanese actress & engineer
• Jamuleb. 1996DEnot in their usual nameGerman rapper

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 · 670 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Issa?

We estimate roughly 11 thousand people bear Issa (counting its spellings and scripts) across 8 countries in our records.

In which country does Issa have the most bearers?

Issa is most frequently recorded in Tanzania, where it is most often spelled issa.

How common is Issa compared with other names?

In Tanzania, Issa is the 7th most common surname of 103,894 surnames recorded there.

What does the name Issa mean?

Recorded meaning: Swahili and Muslim: 'the Messiah'; referring to Jesus as a prophet.