Issa
Feminine
Issa is given to both — 929 girls and 2,288 boys since 1880. See Issa as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Issa arrives in American records from more than one direction, and the largest of them is not obvious from the spelling: in Arabic, Isa is the name of Jesus. It is one of the most-given men's names in the Muslim world, and this is the same word.
How old is the name Issa?
Issa first appears in US birth records in 1975 — 50 years ago. The typical Issa is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 900 people named Issa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Issa most popular?
Issa peaked in 2024, reaching #2282 nationally. Today it ranks #2859, 577 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Yeshua to Issa
The story of Issa
Isa is one of the prophets named in the Qur'an and the name is common across the Arab world, East Africa, Indonesia and among Muslim families everywhere — as a man's name. The doubled s in Issa is a common transliteration and also a Swahili and Comorian spelling. Separately, English-speaking families have arrived at Issa as a short form of longer names and as a standalone. Its recent American record for daughters belongs mostly to that second road rather than the first.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Arabic Isa is the Qur'anic form of Jesus, itself from Hebrew Yeshua, generally read as 'the Lord is salvation' — but the path from Yeshua to Isa is genuinely unclear and has been argued for centuries. In American use Issa also functions independently: as a short form of Isabella and Larissa, and as a name of its own. And Japanese has an unrelated Issa. No single reading covers the spelling.
How the name formed
- Yeshua
- Isa
- Issa
Related forms: Isa · Issa · Jesus · İsa
Pronouncing Issa
EE-sah
Two syllables, stress on the first, the opening a long ee. Arabic gives it a slightly longer first vowel and a light doubling in the middle. IS-uh, with a short i, is also heard in American English and is a different sound.
Nicknames for Issa
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
- 1975
- Most girls named
- 202481 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2282reached in 2024
- Change vs 2024
- −27.2%59 in 2025, from 81
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.
Issa in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Isa in Arabic — transliteration
- Issa in Swahili — same name
- Jesus in English — related form
- İsa in Turkish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Issas among us
people named Issa are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 27,242 born in 2025 was named Issa
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 Ashanty test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Issa's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Ashanty climbed just as high around 2003, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Ashanty's path sketches the road Issa is walking now.
Issa 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 Issa is headed
Issa looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 17% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
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.
Issa beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Issa in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters, entirely phonetic, and said correctly by most English speakers at first sight.
- Recognized instantly across a very large part of the world, though as a man's name there.
- Short and open, which pairs well with a long surname.
- In Arabic and across the Muslim world it is a man's name and the name of a prophet.
- Its meaning is not settled even on the Arabic road, where the path from Hebrew is disputed.
- Issa, Isa, Eesa and Iesa all circulate and belong to different traditions.
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What they receive
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Issa
Feminine · #2859 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Issas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Issa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Issa in 2025?
- Issa ranks #2859 among US girl names in 2025, with 59 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Issa?
- About 1 in every 27,242 US girls born in 2025 was named Issa — 59 in all.
- Will my child share the name Issa with classmates?
- Issa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Issa
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Luci#2859 · Kyah#2859 · Amarie#2859 · Azaliah#2859 · Emilly#2859 · Pyper#2859 · Malinda#2859 · Anny#2859
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Issa? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Issa and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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