first name
ISHMAEL
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 4,934 people named Ishmael, 51.6% reported their origin as Black, 32.7% as Hispanic or Latino and 8.2% as White. Virtually all are male (99.6%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
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Ishmael peaked in 2017, when 158 babies got the name.
At least 6,794 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.
Ishmael by decade
Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1910s, when it ranked #2,109. The largest share of babies named Ishmael, 29.6%, were born between 1997 and 2012, as Generation Z.
Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.
Where Ishmael is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Ishmael has been most common in Florida (3.8×), New York (2.3×), and Georgia (2.1×), and least common in Michigan (0.24×).
3,439 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.
Either side of Ishmael
Spelled almost the same
8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Ishmael, most common first.
Also a last name
As a last name, Ishmael ranks #11,113 of 156,621, with 2,725 people. See Ishmael as a last name
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