Ishmael

Hebrew

"God will hear"

Ishmael Origin and Meaning

The name Ishmael is a boy's name of Hebrew, Spanish origin meaning "God will hear".

Ishmael is most familiar through "Call me Ishmael," the opening line spoken by the youthful narrator of Moby-Dick. Few American parents have followed that advice, though the Spanish and Arabic spelling, Ismael, ranks at Number 362. With its warm and pleasant sound, though, we could see Ishmael tagging along behind Isaiah and Isaac.

In the Bible, Ishmael was Abraham's first son by the Egyptian maidservant Hagar, who was told by God to name him Ishmael. In Islamic tradition, Ishmael (or Ismail) is believed to have been the ancestor of the Arabs.

Ishmael Bush is one of the main characters in James Fenimore Cooper's novel The Prairie, and there is an Ismael in the Lemony Snicket book, The End. Some notable real-life bearers are novelist and poet Ishmael Reed and Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant.

Ishmael Rank in US Top 1000

# 952 in the US

Ishmael Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 1203 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Ishmael

• 1203 Nameberry 2025
• 492 Unique 2023
• 964 Future 2028

20 Names Similar to Ishmael

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Ishmael.

• Armand
• Elisha
• Heinrich
• Ulrich
• Augustin
• Claudio
• Siegfried
• Tybalt
• Giacomo
• Alphonse
• Antoine
• Constantin
• Auguste
• Johannes
• Zebediah
• Reynard
• Godfrey
• Obadiah
• Sigurd
• Pietro

Famous People Named Ishmael

• Ishmael son of Abraham; half brother of Isaac
• Ishmael son of Azel, descendant of King Saul's son, Jonathan ( 1 Chr. 8:38)
• Ishmael father of Zebadiah the ruler of the house of Judah (2 Chr. 19:11)
• Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, Judean royalty and captain (2 Kings 25:23, 25)
• Ishmael captain of hundreds, son of Jehohanan (2 Chr. 23:1)
• Ishmael who took a foreign wife; of the sons of Pashur (Ezra 10:22)
• Ishmael Scott Reed American poet and novelist
• Ishmael Anthony Miller British footballer
• Ishmael Houston Jones, American dancer and choreographer
• Ishmael Bernal Filipino film director
• Ishmael Beah Sierra Leonean former child soldier and human rights activist

The name Ishmael in Pop Culture

• Ishmael narrator of Herman Melville's "Moby Dick"
• Ishmael character in film "Kingpin"
• Ishmael book by Daniel Quinn about a telepathic gorilla named Ishmael
• Ishmael character in A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

International Variations of the name Ishmael

• Melito Spanish
• Ysmael Spanish
• Isamel Spanish
• Ichmaël French
• Ismaël French
• Esmael Spanish
• Ismeal Arabic
• Ismâïl French
• Ismael Spanish
• Ishmael Spanish
• Ismeil Arabic
• Ismail Arabic