MEANING & CONTEXT
What does Ismail mean?
Ismail is the Arabic form of Ishmael, a scriptural name of Hebrew origin. Its traditional meaning combines hearing with the divine name, expressing that God hears.
Spellings in Indian scripts
Devanagari
इस्माइल
Conventional spelling
Arabic
إسماعيل
Conventional spelling
Malayalam
ഇസ്മാഈൽ
Conventional spelling
Devanagari
इस्माईल
12,529 records for this spelling. Historical records ↗
HISTORICAL VOTER RECORDS
Ismail in Indian usage
28,684 historical electoral-roll records, chiefly adults, rather than current baby-name rankings.
Mostly recorded for boys (93.1%) in these historical records.
- Recorded as female: 1,983 records (6.9%).
- Recorded as male: 26,701 records (93.1%).
By birth decade
| Birth decade | Records |
|---|---|
| 1930s | 638 |
| 1940s | 1,809 |
| 1950s | 3,619 |
| 1960s | 5,322 |
| 1970s | 6,650 |
| 1980s | 6,617 |
| 1990s | 3,874 |
| Other decades | 155 |
By state or territory
| State / territory | Records |
|---|---|
| Kerala | 8,844 |
| Maharashtra | 5,558 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 5,124 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 3,687 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 1,858 |
| Rajasthan | 1,648 |
| Goa | 491 |
| Jharkhand | 415 |
| Delhi | 298 |
| Bihar | 275 |
| Other states | 486 |
How to read these numbers
Small counts and a second count where needed are withheld for privacy; an omitted value is not zero. Coverage, dates and suppression.
Recorded abroad
Official births registered in 2025, for the exact spelling shown.
| Jurisdiction | Spelling / recorded sex | Births | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| England & Wales | Ismail / M | 200 | 243 |
| Scotland | Ismail / M | 11 | 316 |
ONS and National Records of Scotland; Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3. Counts follow each office’s publication rules.
Explore related lists
Sources
- Given-name entry (Wikidata): Ismail ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Given-name spelling
- Wiktionary: Ismail ↗ (opens in a new tab)
origin
- Historical Indian voter-record totals, v3 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Historical usage; CC0 1.0; birth years 1910–2001
- England & Wales 2025 birth statistics: Exact spelling Ismail; Table_6, C248 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Exact spelling Ismail; Table_6, C248
- Scotland 2025 birth statistics: Exact spelling Ismail; full-list-1974-2025.csv; 2025 Boy ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Exact spelling Ismail; full-list-1974-2025.csv; 2025 Boy
- Wiktionary: Ishmael ↗ (opens in a new tab)
meaning
Adapted dictionary text: CC BY-SA 4.0.