MEANING & HISTORY
What does Ismael mean?
Ismael is a Spanish and other European form of Ishmael. The Hebrew Yishma’el combines a hearing verb with El, God, conventionally God hears or God will hear.
The biblical son of Abraham is the principal historical association. The name’s verbal construction is more specific than a broad blessing gloss. Ismail is a related form through another language tradition.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
Tagalog
- /ʔismaˈʔel/Standard-Tagalog
- [ʔɪs.mɐˈʔɛl]Standard-Tagalog
Is · ma · el3 source divisions
Dictionary reading & contributors ↗Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
TagalogEtymology & source
Borrowed from Spanish Ismael, from Latin Ismael, from Ancient Greek Ἰσμαήλ (Ismaḗl), from Hebrew יִשְׁמָעֵאל (yishma'él/yišmāʿēl).
a male given name from Spanish [in turn from Hebrew], equivalent to English Ishmael
Wiktionary: Ismael (Tagalog) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
EnglishEtymology & source
Borrowed from Latin Ismael.
a male given name, variant of Ishmael
Wiktionary: Ismael (English) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
SpanishEtymology & source
Learned borrowing from Latin Ismael, from Ancient Greek Ἰσμαήλ (Ismaḗl), from Hebrew יִשְׁמָעֵאל (yishma'él/yišmāʿēl).
a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Ishmael
Wiktionary: Ismael (Spanish) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Ismael
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Esmael Mangudadatu
Filipino politician
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Ismael Kiram II
43rd Sultan of Sulu
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Public-record transcription
15
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗Wikidata
3
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Esmael Mangudadatu, Ismael Kiram II
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Ismael in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Related forms & spellings
Related forms may have their own language histories. They are not included in this spelling’s PSA count.
Similar names to Ismael
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Israel♂Traditionally “one who wrestles with God”
- Isabel♀My God is an oath
- Mael♂Tagalog Ismael clipping; Breton chief-name also exists
- Isaac♂He laughs; he will laugh
- Isabela♀Form of Isabel, in the Elizabeth name family
- Isang♀Familiar Isabel in Tagalog; Luisa or Marisa in Cebuano
- Isay♀Tagalog familiar form of Luisa and other isa-ending names
- Islaw♂Familiar form of Estanislao; Israel also recorded in Cebuano
What rhymes with Ismael?
Matches share a dictionary-supplied rhyme key in the stated language. Check the recorded reading; another language or accent can change the rhyme.
- AbelTagalog · /-el/
- ArnelTagalog · /-el/
- DanielTagalog · /-el/
- FidelTagalog · /-el/
- GabrielTagalog · /-el/
- GabrielleTagalog · /-el/
- IsabelTagalog · /-el/
- IsraelTagalog · /-el/
- MaelTagalog · /-el/
- ManuelTagalog · /-el/
- MaribelTagalog · /-el/
- MiguelTagalog · /-el/
Names with a similar written ending
Spelling suggestions; these are not verified phonetic rhymes.
Recorded combinations with Ismael
1 source-reported compound forms include this name as a component. Each part keeps its own history.
Names in this collection
Explore combinations →Explore Ismael further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Wikidata given-name item Q5922565 — Ismael (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Esmael Mangudadatu (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q5922565 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Ismael Kiram II (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q5922565 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Ismael (Tagalog) (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name sense and separately attributed etymology; no birth-frequency claim.
- Wiktionary contributors — Ismael (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary contributors — Ismael (Spanish) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Ismael (opens in a new tab)
Personal-name formation and etymological relationships; imported dictionary account consulted.