boy's name
Israel
IZ-ree-el
- Origin Hebrew
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 3
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 76,524
the United States
#315
2025 births
Israel means he wrestles with God, and it is a name given after a fight — Jacob receives it in Genesis having wrestled a stranger until dawn and refused to let go without a blessing.
- Israel is a name of Hebrew origin.
- Peaked in 2007, when 1,995 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 2,952 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Israel over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 202 |
| 1890s | 164 |
| 1900s | 210 |
| 1910s | 1,051 |
| 1920s | 1,110 |
| 1930s | 775 |
| 1940s | 965 |
| 1950s | 1,858 |
| 1960s | 2,680 |
| 1970s | 5,448 |
| 1980s | 6,384 |
| 1990s | 10,456 |
| 2000s | 16,535 |
| 2010s | 16,294 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 8,742 |
What Israel means
Israel means he wrestles with God, or God contends. The Hebrew joins a verb meaning to struggle to el, God, and the text itself supplies the explanation.
Where Israel comes from
Israel is the Hebrew Yisra'el — a verb meaning to struggle or contend, joined to el, God. Genesis gives the naming directly: Jacob wrestles a stranger through the night at the ford of Jabbok, is injured at the hip, and is renamed for having striven with God and prevailed. The name then passes to his descendants and to the nation. It is one of the few biblical names whose meaning the text explains rather than leaving to later scholarship.
Israel in use
Israel peaked in the United States in 2007, when 1,995 babies were registered, and our data marks it stable rather than falling. It now ranks 315th in the United States on 1,123 births, 832nd in England and Wales on 40 and 1551st in France on 20, across 76,524 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. Our records carry it from 1880.
How popular is Israel?
In 2025, Israel was given to 1,123 babies in the United States, ranking #315 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Israel is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Israel is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Israël | Israël is Israel written with a diaeresis, used in France, where it ranks #1,551. | 295 |
Names that peaked alongside Israel
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Israel also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Israel over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Israel
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Israel in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Israel
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Israel — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Israel
What does the name Israel mean?
He wrestles with God — a verb meaning to struggle, joined to el, God.
Where does the name come from?
Genesis. Jacob is renamed after wrestling a stranger until dawn and refusing to let go without a blessing.
Does the Bible explain it?
Yes, which is unusual — most biblical names are left to later scholarship.
How popular is Israel?
315th in the United States, and our data marks it stable.
Is Israel a girl's or a boy's name?
Israel is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Israel?
Israel has 3 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Israel?
Israel is usually shortened to Izzy.
Is Israel a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Israel currently ranks #315 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.