Yisrael
Masculine · “he who struggles with God”
Yisrael is the name given to Jacob after wrestling all night — he who struggles with God, and the text says he did not lose.
How old is the name Yisrael?
Yisrael first appears in US birth records in 1976 — 49 years ago. The typical Yisrael is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,500 people named Yisrael are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Yisrael most popular?
Yisrael peaked in 2024, reaching #1902 nationally. Today it ranks #2207, 305 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From sarah El to Yisrael
The story of Yisrael
Jacob wrestles a stranger until dawn, is injured in the hip, refuses to let go without a blessing, and is renamed — and the text never says clearly who he fought. The whole people takes the name. Yisrael is the Hebrew and Yiddish form, standard in Orthodox communities, and is in current American use.
Meaning
he who struggles with God
From the Hebrew Yisra'el — sarah, 'to struggle' or 'contend', and El, 'God'. Genesis 32 gives the naming explicitly: you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed. The Hebrew is transparent and the reading undisputed.
How the name formed
- sarah El
- Yisra'el
- Yisrael
Related forms: ישראל · Israel · Israel
Pronouncing Yisrael
yis-rah-EL
Three syllables, stress on the third. English Israel is IZ-ree-ul with a quite different shape.
Nicknames for Yisrael
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
- 1976
- Most boys named
- 202483 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1902reached in 2024
- Change vs 2024
- −22.9%64 in 2025, from 83
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.
Yisrael in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- ישראל in Hebrew — transliteration
- Israel in English — related form
- Israel in Spanish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, New Jersey, Florida.
Yisraels among us
people named Yisrael are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 26,689 born in 2025 was named Yisrael
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 Rozell test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Yisrael's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Rozell climbed just as high around 1955, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Rozell's path sketches the road Yisrael is walking now.
Yisrael 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 Yisrael is headed
Yisrael 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.
Yisrael beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Yisrael in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That the text never identifies who Jacob wrestled is a first-rate ambiguity.
- The struggles-with-God meaning is unusually active for a name.
- Srulik and Izzy are two short forms, both in real use.
- It is a country name as well as a personal one, with all that carries.
- Israel is what English speakers will assume and say differently.
- It reads as specifically Jewish and observant.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Yisrael to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Yisrael
Masculine · #2207 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Yisraels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,500 people named Yisrael are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Yisrael in 2025?
- Yisrael ranks #2207 among US boy names in 2025, with 64 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Yisrael?
- About 1 in every 26,689 US boys born in 2025 was named Yisrael — 64 in all.
- Will my child share the name Yisrael with classmates?
- Yisrael will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Yisrael
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Damarion#2207 · Canon#2207 · Gannon#2207 · Elam#2207 · Raleigh#2207 · Jaciel#2207 · Sylvester#2207 · Zayaan#2207
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Yisrael? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Yisrael and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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