Isom
Masculine · “settlement on the Ise”
Isom is Isham respelled, and the English place name behind it means the settlement on the river Ise — a village in Northamptonshire that gave a family its name.
How old is the name Isom?
Isom was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Isom alive today was born around 1932, making them about 93 years old. About 600 people named Isom are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Isom most popular?
Isom peaked in 1884, reaching #336 nationally. Today it ranks #8910, 8,574 places below that high. See the whole 1884 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Ise ham to Isom
The story of Isom
Isham was an English place name and surname, and it crossed into American given-name use in the South in the nineteenth century. Speech reduced it to Isom, and families registered that spelling outright — a common pattern in Southern records, where the written form follows the spoken one. Isom peaked around 1890.
Meaningscholars disagree
settlement on the Ise
Usually read from Isham in Northamptonshire, joining the river name Ise to ham, 'homestead'. The river's own name is Celtic and unrecovered. A second account treats Isom as an American respelling of the Hebrew Isaiah or of Isaac, which is plausible for some Southern bearers.
How the name formed
- Ise ham
- Isham
- Isom
Related forms: Isham · Isum
Pronouncing Isom
EYE-sum
Two syllables, stress on the first. Isom and Isum are said identically.
Nicknames for Isom
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 192134 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #336reached in 1884
- Change vs 2022
- +60.0%8 in 2025, from 5
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.
Isom in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Isham in English — related form
- Isum in English — spelling variant
Isoms among us
people named Isom are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 213,510 born in 2025 was named Isom
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Isom 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
Isom beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Isom in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A real English village stands behind it.
- It records a documented Southern American habit of spelling names as they are said.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- The origin is split between an English place name and a biblical respelling.
- It reads as unusual and will be asked about.
- It is strongly period-coded to the nineteenth-century American South.
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Isom
Masculine · #8910 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Isoms are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Isom are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Isom in 2025?
- Isom ranks #8910 among US boy names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Isom?
- About 1 in every 213,510 US boys born in 2025 was named Isom — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Isom with classmates?
- Isom will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Isom
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Davie#8910 · Ned#8910 · Darious#8910 · Alois#8910 · Len#8910 · Barton#8910 · Desmon#8910 · Winfield#8910
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Isom? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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