Isreal
Masculine · “he strives with God”
Isreal is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 4,664 boys against 58 girls since 1880.
Isreal is a spelling of Israel, a Hebrew name given in the middle of a wrestling match — Jacob receives it after fighting someone all night by a river.
How old is the name Isreal?
Isreal was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Isreal alive today was born around 1993, making them about 32 years old. About 3,700 people named Isreal are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Isreal most popular?
Isreal peaked in 1880, reaching #640 nationally. Today it ranks #3848, 3,208 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Yisra'el to Isreal
The story of Isreal
Jacob wrestles a stranger at the ford of the Jabbok, will not let go until he is blessed, and is renamed and left with a limp. The name then belongs to a people. English Protestants took it as a personal name after the Reformation and it was well used in colonial America. Isreal is a very common respelling, produced by the same instinct that makes English speakers write recieve.
Meaning
he strives with God
From Hebrew sarah, to strive or contend, and el, God; Genesis explains it as you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed. Whether the name means he strives with God or God strives is grammatically open, and both are argued.
How the name formed
- Yisra'el
- Israel
- Isreal
Related forms: Israel · Yisra'el · Israel
Pronouncing Isreal
IZ-ree-ul
Three syllables, first stressed. Isreal and Israel are said identically.
Nicknames for Isreal
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
- 2006121 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #640reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- −28.2%28 in 2025, from 39
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.
Isreal in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Israel in English — spelling variant
- Yisra'el in Hebrew — same name
- Israel in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, Texas, California.
Isreals among us
people named Isreal are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 61,003 born in 2025 was named Isreal
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Isreal
- #3848
- Isreal on the 2025 chart
- #890
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Isreal went to 28 boys in 2025, but Izreal is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 38, which makes it the 890th most-given boys’ name of the year — 2,958 places above the chart.
- Isreal28
- Izreal10
About 1 boy in 44,949 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 61,003 for Isreal 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
Isreal 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 Isreal is headed
Isreal is easing off slowly — about 21% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
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.
Isreal beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Isreal in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning that the biblical text explains in the moment it is given.
- Izzy is a warm short form in very current use.
- Substantial American use since the colonial period.
- Israel is the standard spelling and this one reads as a misspelling to most people.
- The name is also a modern state's, which carries strong political associations.
- The grammar of the meaning is genuinely open between two readings.
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What they receive
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Isreal
Masculine · #3848 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Isreals are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,700 people named Isreal are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Isreal?
- Isreal is the most-used spelling in US records — 28 of the 38 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Izreal.
- How popular is the name Isreal in 2025?
- Isreal ranks #3848 among US boy names in 2025, with 28 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Isreal?
- About 1 in every 61,003 US boys born in 2025 was named Isreal — 28 in all.
- Will my child share the name Isreal with classmates?
- Isreal will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Isreal
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Tracy#3848 · Stafford#3848 · Dewey#3848 · Donny#3848 · Trevion#3848 · Coltyn#3848 · Naftuli#3848 · Armand#3848
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Isreal? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Isreal and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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