Head to head · Boys' names
Izaiah vs Raul
#635 vs #634 in 2025
Raul is a whisker ahead (#634 vs #635 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Raul is holding its place on the charts, Izaiah is stepping back from its peak.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Raul leads 5 measures of 6; Izaiah leads 0.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1900s: Izaiah —, Raul #925 — Raul higher
- 1910s: Izaiah —, Raul #673 — Raul higher
- 1920s: Izaiah —, Raul #360 — Raul higher
- 1930s: Izaiah —, Raul #306 — Raul higher
- 1940s: Izaiah —, Raul #298 — Raul higher
- 1950s: Izaiah —, Raul #256 — Raul higher
- 1960s: Izaiah —, Raul #256 — Raul higher
- 1970s: Izaiah —, Raul #213 — Raul higher
- 1980s: Izaiah #5955, Raul #206 — Raul higher
- 1990s: Izaiah #2366, Raul #212 — Raul higher
- 2000s: Izaiah #509, Raul #254 — Raul higher
- 2010s: Izaiah #482, Raul #439 — Raul higher
- 2020s: Izaiah #568, Raul #593 — Izaiah higher
Raul stood higher in 12 of 13 decades; Izaiah took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Izaiah | Raul |
|---|---|---|
| 1900s | — | #925 |
| 1910s | — | #673 |
| 1920s | — | #360 |
| 1930s | — | #306 |
| 1940s | — | #298 |
| 1950s | — | #256 |
| 1960s | — | #256 |
| 1970s | — | #213 |
| 1980s | #5955 | #206 |
| 1990s | #2366 | #212 |
| 2000s | #509 | #254 |
| 2010s | #482 | #439 |
| 2020s | #568 | #593 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Izaiah
Yahweh is salvation
From the Hebrew Yesha'yahu, joining a verb of saving or deliverance to the divine name. The respelled form carries the meaning of Isaiah unchanged.
Yesha'yahu → Esaias → Isaias → Isaiah → Izaiah
How it traveled
The name begins in Hebrew as Yesha'yahu, borne by the prophet whose oracles fill the Book of Isaiah, active in Jerusalem in the eighth century BC. Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible rendered it Esaias, Latin turned that into Isaias, and English settled on Isaiah — a form that spread widely among English-speaking Protestants after the Reformation put the Bible in ordinary hands.
Raul
counsel-wolf, from Germanic rād 'advice, counsel' and wulf 'wolf'
The same two elements sit inside the English Ralph and the French Raoul; the Germanic naming habit of pairing an abstract quality with an animal is very old and very well documented.
Rādwulf → Radulf → Raoul → Raúl → Raul
How it traveled
The oldest form is the Germanic Rādwulf, latinized as Radulf, which spread through Frankish territory in the early medieval period. Old French wore it down to Raoul, and Norman speakers took that form to England, where it settled as Ralph.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Izaiah
eye-ZAY-uh
Three syllables, stress on the middle. The spelling makes the z sound explicit — the same sound most English speakers already give Isaiah.
- Izzy — The most common short form; informal, and also used for Isabella, Isabel, Israel and Isidore, so it rarely points to one name alone.
- Zay — Informal, current among younger bearers; shared with Xavier and Zayden.
- Zaiah — Informal clipping that keeps the ending intact; sometimes written as a given name in its own right.
- Ike — Older-style short form drawn from the same family of biblical I- names; uncommon today.
Raul
rah-OOL
Two syllables, stress on the second. In Spanish the accent mark (Raúl) is what keeps the vowels apart; without it, English speakers sometimes flatten it to one syllable, closer to 'Rowl'.
- Raulito — Standard Spanish diminutive, used affectionately within families and often for a boy named after his father.
- Rauli — Informal short form; also exists independently as a Finnish given name.
- Rau — Clipped informal form heard among friends and teammates rather than in writing.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Izaiah if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsIzaiah is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itIzaiah runs 3 syllables, Raul 1
Choose Raul if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesRaul is 1 syllable to Izaiah's 3
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Izaiah
Strengths
- The meaning is settled and needs no hedging: Yahweh is salvation, from a name documented for well over two thousand years.
- Sounds identical to Isaiah, so anyone who hears it knows how to say it immediately.
- Has real short forms already in use — Izzy, Zay, Zaiah — rather than none at all.
To consider
- The default spelling is Isaiah, and that is what most people will write first. Expect a lifetime of small corrections on forms, rosters and coffee cups.
- Because the z form is recent, it carries none of its own paper trail — searches, older records and reference books will all point back to Isaiah.
- Izzy is shared with a crowd of other names, so a nickname may not identify him on its own.
Raul
Strengths
- Works unchanged in English, Spanish and Portuguese — only the accent mark shifts, and the sound stays recognizable in all three.
- Four letters, no silent letters, no competing spellings to choose between.
- A documented line running from early medieval Frankish names through Old French to the modern form.
To consider
- The accent in Raúl will be dropped by school systems, forms and databases; deciding early whether you write it with or without saves years of small corrections.
- English-only speakers often need one gentle correction, either compressing it to a single syllable or reaching for the French Raoul.
- Its American strength is concentrated in the southwest and California, so outside those regions it may be met as unfamiliar rather than merely uncommon — which is not the same as difficult.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Izaiah and Raul in full.
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Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Izaiah and Raul — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Izaiah or Raul — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Izaiah or Raul?
- Raul, in 2025: Raul ranked #634 with 440 babies; Izaiah ranked #635 with 439 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Izaiah or Raul?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Izaiah moved down 147 places; Raul moved down 77 places.
- Which is the older name, Izaiah or Raul?
- Izaiah entered the US charts in 1984; Raul entered the US charts in 1904. On the American record, Raul is the older name.
- How many people are named Izaiah and Raul?
- About 14,500 people named Izaiah are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 73,500 people named Raul are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Izaiahs or Rauls in the classroom?
- Izaiah will almost certainly be the only one in school. Raul will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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