UK boy's name
Ismaeel
Prophet whose name represents "God hears" in Arabic.
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Ismaeel is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Ismaeel popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #403, with 101 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2016, with 136 births.
This profile covers 2,111 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales and NRS Scotland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 74% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 2,151 living people in the UK are called Ismaeel. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Ismaeel ranked #403 for boys in England and Wales in 2024, with 101 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 2016, when 136 boys were registered as Ismaeel.
- • Ismaeel ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #614 in 2023.
- • About 2,151 living people in the UK are estimated to have Ismaeel as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#403
2024
Births in 2024
101
Latest year
Peak year
2016
136 births
Estimated living
2,151
2026
Meaning
What does Ismaeel mean?
The name Ismaeel is derived from the Arabic name Ismail, which means "God has hearkened" or "God has heard." The Arabic name Ismail itself is derived from the Hebrew name Yishmael, which means "God will hear."
The name Ismaeel has its roots in the Abrahamic religions and is believed to have originated in the Middle East during ancient times. It is mentioned in religious texts such as the Quran and the Bible, where it refers to Ishmael, the son of the prophet Abraham and his wife Hagar.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Ismaeel can be found in the Quran, which mentions Ismail (the Arabic form of the name) as the son of Abraham and Hagar. The story of Ismail and his mother's journey to the desert is significant in Islamic tradition.
In the Bible, Ishmael is described as the firstborn son of Abraham and is considered the progenitor of several Arab tribes. The name Ishmael is also mentioned in the Book of Genesis, where he is described as a skilled archer and a wild man.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Ismaeel or its variations. One of the most famous was Ismail I (1487-1524), the Shah of Persia and the founder of the Safavid dynasty. He is known for establishing Shia Islam as the official religion of Persia and for his military conquests.
Another prominent figure was Ismail Pasha (1805-1861), an Ottoman military leader and statesman who served as the Wāli (governor) of Syria and later as the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
In the field of literature, Ismail Kadare (born 1936) is a renowned Albanian novelist and poet who has been a nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature multiple times.
Ismail Merchant (1936-2005) was an Indian-born film producer and director, best known for his collaborations with writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and director James Ivory in the Merchant Ivory Productions.
Ismail Yasin (1976-2008) was a Palestinian-American terrorist who carried out the 2009 shooting attack on the Arkansas Military Recruiting Office in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Ismaeel over time
The chart below shows babies named Ismaeel registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Ismaeel, the clearest high point is 2016. The latest England and Wales figure is 101 births in 2024, compared with 136 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ismaeel by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Ismaeel was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #438 | 471 | 5 |
| 2010s | #425 | 998 | 10 |
| 2000s | #517 | 564 | 10 |
| 1990s | #856 | 78 | 4 |
Geography
Where Ismaeel is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Ismaeel. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Ismaeel ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #614 in 2023.
Across the UK
Ismaeel in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#614 in 2023
12 years of NRS records, 54 total registered
Related
Names similar to Ismaeel
- Isaac 49,129
- Ibrahim 14,115
- Ismail 4,679
- Isaiah 4,629
- Idris 3,810
- Ivan 3,146
- Isa 2,943
- Ian 2,805
- Ilyas 2,552
- Ieuan 2,515
- Ibraheem 2,384
- Ioan 2,295
FAQ
Ismaeel: questions and answers
How popular is the name Ismaeel in the UK right now?
In 2024, Ismaeel was ranked #403 for boys in England and Wales, with 101 births registered.
When was Ismaeel most popular?
The peak year on record was 2016, with 136 babies registered as Ismaeel in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Ismaeel?
Prophet whose name represents "God hears" in Arabic.
How many people are called Ismaeel in the UK?
A total of 2,111 babies have been registered as Ismaeel across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 54 more in Scotland.
Where is Ismaeel most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Ismaeel ranks best in Scotland, where it placed #614 in 2023. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.