Isiah
Masculine · “Yahweh is salvation”
Isiah is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 24,710 boys against 11 girls since 1880.
Isiah is the shorter road to one of the oldest names in the Hebrew Bible — the prophet whose book opens with the vineyard and the sword beaten into a plowshare. The spelling trims a letter from Isaiah without touching the sound most Americans give it, three syllables that rise in the middle and settle softly at the end. It has been on the books here since record-keeping began, never crowding a classroom, never disappearing either.
How old is the name Isiah?
Isiah was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Isiah alive today was born around 1998, making them about 27 years old. About 19,500 people named Isiah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Isiah most popular?
Isiah peaked in 1894, reaching #268 nationally. Today it ranks #1477, 1,209 places below that high. See the whole 1894 chart.
Where it comes from
From Yesha'yahu to Isiah
The story of Isiah
The name belongs to the prophet Isaiah, active in Jerusalem in the eighth century BC, whose book became one of the most quoted texts in both Jewish and Christian scripture. Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible rendered it Esaias, Latin took it up as Isaias, and English settled on Isaiah after the Reformation put the Old Testament into ordinary hands. Isiah is an English variant of that spelling, dropping the second vowel while keeping the shape, and it has run alongside the longer form in American records from the earliest years the government counted names. Its strongest showing has been in the South and West.
Meaning
Yahweh is salvation
From Hebrew Yesha'yahu, combining a root meaning salvation with the divine name. The trimmed spelling does not change the meaning.
How the name formed
- Yesha'yahu
- Esaias
- Isaias
- Isaiah
- Isiah
Related forms: Isaías · Isaías · Ésaïe · Isaia · Isaiya · Esaias
Pronouncing Isiah
eye-ZAY-uh
Most American bearers say it exactly as Isaiah is said. The missing vowel does prompt a minority reading of eye-ZY-uh, so expect to state your preference now and then.
Nicknames for Isiah
High
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 2001822 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #268reached in 1894
- Change vs 2022
- −14.9%120 in 2025, from 141
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.
Isiah in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Isaías in Spanish — same name
- Isaías in Portuguese — same name
- Ésaïe in French — same name
- Isaia in Italian — same name
- Isaiya in Russian — transliteration
- Esaias in Greek — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Isiahs among us
people named Isiah are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 14,234 born in 2025 was named Isiah
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Isiah
- #1477
- Isiah on the 2025 chart
- #792
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Isiah went to 120 boys in 2025, but Iziah is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 136, which makes it the 792nd most-given boys’ name of the year — 685 places above the chart.
- Isiah120
- Iziah16
About 1 boy in 12,559 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 14,234 for Isiah itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Isiah 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 Isiah is headed
Isiah should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Isiah beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Isiah in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Instantly recognizable worldwide through the prophet's book, with established equivalents in Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian.
- Comes with short forms already in circulation — Izzy for the everyday, Zay among younger speakers.
- A continuous presence in US records since counting began, without ever becoming a name a child shares with two classmates.
- The meaning is settled rather than guessed at, which is not true of every name with this much age behind it.
- Isaiah is by far the better-known spelling, so this one will be corrected on forms, rosters and coffee cups for life. Most families of Isiahs simply learn a quick phrase for it.
- The missing vowel invites the occasional eye-ZY-uh from someone reading it cold, particularly on paper before they hear it.
- The scriptural link is strong and unavoidable — welcome to many families, worth a moment's thought for those who would rather a name carried no religious weight.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Isiah
Masculine · #1477 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Isiahs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 19,500 people named Isiah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Isiah?
- Isiah is the most-used spelling in US records — 120 of the 136 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Iziah.
- How popular is the name Isiah in 2025?
- Isiah ranks #1477 among US boy names in 2025, with 120 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Isiah?
- About 1 in every 14,234 US boys born in 2025 was named Isiah — 120 in all.
- Will my child share the name Isiah with classmates?
- Isiah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Isiah
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Arnold#1477 · Ewan#1477 · Vedant#1477 · Derick#1477 · Xzavier#1477 · Smith#1477 · Kamarion#1477 · Laken#1477
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Isiah? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Isiah and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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