Ishmael

Where Ishmael comes from

From Hebrew יִשְׁמָעֵאל (yishma'él (yišmāʿēl), “God hears, God will hear”). Doublet of Ismail.
— Wiktionary's entry for Ishmael
  • Hebrew
  • 3 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #809 among boys — 6 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1912
    Peak, #783
    31 babies named Ishmael — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1938
    Ishmael Reed born
    American poet, novelist, essayist, songwriter, playwright, editor and publisher
  4. 1941
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #2,333.
  5. 1980
    Ishmael Beah born
    Sierra Leonean writer
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Hebrew.
Namesakes
  • Ishmael Beah · Sierra Leonean writer, born 1980
  • Ishmael Reed · American poet, novelist, essayist, songwriter, playwright, editor and publisher, born 1938
  • Ishmael Miller · English association football player, born 1987
  • Ishmael Toroama · Bougainvillean politician, born 1969
  • Ishmael Ashitey · Ghanaian politician, 1954–2022

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.