Isai
Masculine · Hebrew roots · “Uncertain in the original Hebrew”
Isai is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 7,340 boys against 45 girls since 1880.
Isai is the Spanish form of the name English Bibles give as Jesse — the shepherd of Bethlehem, father of David. It comes to us through Latin, where the Vulgate spells it exactly this way, four letters that have not changed in more than a thousand years. In the mouth it is mostly vowels, which is why it travels between Spanish and English with so little friction.
How old is the name Isai?
Isai first appears in US birth records in 1966 — 59 years ago. The typical Isai alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 7,200 people named Isai are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Isai most popular?
Isai peaked in 2007, reaching #700 nationally. Today it ranks #1138, 438 places below that high. See the whole 2007 chart.
Where it comes from
From Yishai (Hebrew) to Isai
The story of Isai
The name begins as Yishai in the Hebrew Bible, borne by the Bethlehem farmer whose youngest son became King David. Greek translators wrote it Iessai; Latin scribes wrote Isai, and that Latin spelling is the one Spanish kept, with an accent on the last syllable: Isaí. It carries one of the most quoted images in scripture with it — the shoot that grows from the stump of Jesse, the root of the family tree that Christian art turned into a literal tree of ancestors. In the United States the name arrived through Spanish-speaking families, which is why it is best established in Texas, California and Florida.
Meaningscholars disagree
Uncertain in the original Hebrew; readings of "gift" and "Yah exists" compete
The Hebrew name behind it, Yishai, has never been pinned down. One long-standing reading connects it to a root meaning gift or wealth; another reads it as a shortened sentence-name, "man of Yah" or "Yah exists." Neither has won, and Hebrew scholarship generally lists the name as of uncertain derivation.
How the name formed
- YishaiHebrew
- IessaiGreek
- IsaiLatin
- IsaíSpanish
- JesseEnglish
Related forms: Yishai · Jesse · Isaí · Jessé · Jessé · Iesse
Pronouncing Isai
ee-sah-EE
That is the Spanish reading, with the stress on the final syllable and the accent written Isaí. Many US families and most English speakers say it in two beats instead: ee-SIGH. Both are in real use, so it helps to decide early which one your family will offer first.
Nicknames for Isai
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1966
- Most boys named
- 2007333 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #700reached in 2007
- Change vs 2024
- −9.3%186 in 2025, from 205
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Isai in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Yishai in Hebrew — transliteration
- Jesse in English — same name
- Isaí in Spanish — spelling variant
- Jessé in Portuguese — same name
- Jessé in French — same name
- Iesse in Italian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Isais among us
people named Isai are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 9,183 born in 2025 was named Isai
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Eloy test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Isai's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Eloy climbed just as high around 1946, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Eloy's path sketches the road Isai is walking now.
Isai sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Isai is headed
Isai should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Isai beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Isai in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters, all common ones — easy to write, and a child can spell it out loud before kindergarten.
- Works in both Spanish and English without changing its shape, an advantage in bilingual families.
- A documented line back to the Hebrew Bible, with the Latin spelling identical to the one in use today.
- Related to Jesse, so the name has a familiar cousin in English while remaining distinct from it.
- Present in US records across generations rather than tied to one brief spike.
- The accent in Isaí usually vanishes in American paperwork, and with it the guidance on stress. Expect to correct people between ee-sah-EE and ee-SIGH for a long time, and it is worth choosing your preferred version before the birth certificate.
- It sits close to Isaiah, Isaías and Isaac in sound and in spelling. Substitute teachers and forms will occasionally reach for the longer, better-known name instead.
- There is no widely used nickname. What you name him is, in practice, what he will be called every day.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Isai
Masculine · Hebrew roots · #1138 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Isais are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 7,200 people named Isai are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Isai in 2025?
- Isai ranks #1138 among US boy names in 2025, with 186 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Isai?
- About 1 in every 9,183 US boys born in 2025 was named Isai — 186 in all.
- Will my child share the name Isai with classmates?
- Isai will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Isai
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ansel#1138 · Stellan#1138 · Cain#1141 · Adiel#1141 · Zen#1141 · Lazarus#1141 · Bronx#1132 · Atharv#1132
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Isai? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Isai and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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