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Israel

Gender
Boy
Say it
IZ-ray-el
Origin
Hebrew
UK rank, 2025
#882 for boys
US rank, 2025
#315 for boys

Israel is a boys' name of Hebrew origin, meaning “he struggles with God”. In 2025 it ranked 882nd for boys in the UK (39 babies) and 315th for boys in the US (1,081 babies).

What does Israel mean?

Hebrew

“he struggles with God”

In Genesis, Jacob is given the name Israel after wrestling through the night with a mysterious stranger.

More on Wiktionary.

Is Israel a girl's or a boy's name?

Israel is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 39 boys in the UK and 42 girls and 1,081 boys in the US.

How popular is Israel in the UK?

Rank in 2025
882nd among boys
Babies in 2025
39 about 1 in 7,700 boys
Five-year trend
Falling down 35% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1% chance among 15 boys

In 2025, 39 boys in the UK were named Israel, making it the 882nd most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 638th. Its busiest year was 2018, with 76 boys.

Half of all the boys named Israel in the UK since 1996 were born between 2009 and 2019, the years shaded on the chart below.

Among boys in 2025, it was 822nd in England and Wales.

1996Busiest: 76 in 20182025
Israel in the UK, year by year
YearBoysRank
202539#882
202431#1,041
202367#611
202275#569
202164#640
202062#638
201973#571
201876#566
201773#578
201674#572
201570#588
201471#577
201367#591
201261#634
201164#597
201054#658
200941#782
200863#584
200740#765
200633#842
200528#895
200438#696
200311#1,498
200211#1,384
200115#1,103
200017#990
199926#717
199812#1,180
199720#840
199610#1,290

How popular is Israel in the US?

Rank in 2025
315th among boys
Babies in 2025
1,081 about 1 in 1,600 boys
Five-year trend
Steady down 19% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1% chance among 15 boys

In 2025, 1,081 boys in the US were named Israel, making it the 315th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 237th. Its busiest year was 2007, with 1,937 boys. 42 girls were also named Israel in 2025 (3,576th for girls).

2025 had fewer boys named Israel than any year since 1996.

Half of all the boys named Israel in the US since 1880 were born between 1985 and 2014, the years shaded on the chart below.

In 2025, 1,180 boys in the US were given Israel or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #297, up from #315 for this spelling alone.

1880Busiest: 1,937 in 20072025
Israel in the US, year by year
YearBoysRank
20251,081#315
20241,226#278
20231,537#229
20221,509#233
20211,548#234
20201,532#237
20191,622#234
20181,596#239
20171,594#235
20161,679#232
20151,582#240
20141,541#242
20131,473#245
20121,450#253
20111,612#218
20101,626#220
20091,776#211
20081,832#210
20071,937#204
20061,927#202
20051,655#217
20041,635#215
20031,368#247
20021,297#251
20011,340#249
20001,384#244
19991,272#248
19981,279#243
19971,169#251
19961,064#264
1995975#281
1994960#282
1993913#300
1992902#297
1991848#304
1990791#319
1989759#315
1988655#328
1987614#333
1986616#325
1985598#329
1984590#325
1983589#323
1982637#310
1981594#324
1980663#301
1979686#295
1978591#305
1977630#306
1976565#311
1975531#330
1974529#330
1973474#352
1972486#350
1971470#372
1970424#389
1969357#418
1968333#422
1967271#461
1966291#451
1965260#481
1964246#501
1963222#533
1962229#526
1961233#520
1960232#520
1959220#530
1958228#510
1957176#580
1956197#532
1955189#534
1954163#577
1953186#516
1952178#522
1951173#518
1950143#564
1949146#554
1948123#612
1947112#651
1946107#621
194582#664
194482#687
194390#676
194265#795
194184#665
194074#702
193974#691
193884#652
193770#722
193680#653
193580#663
193473#716
193374#694
193266#780
193173#711
1930101#610
192979#695
192872#763
1927100#629
192694#651
1925103#617
1924105#622
1923118#575
1922162#483
1921142#521
1920135#524
1919129#524
1918162#464
1917143#479
1916120#520
1915137#470
1914100#488
1913116#396
191275#456
191140#461
191029#524
190927#496
190824#513
190719#559
190619#523
190519#525
190430#368
190314#595
190224#415
190114#536
190020#534
189912#583
189817#505
189711#652
189627#367
189515#529
189412#594
189314#509
189220#422
189118#411
189018#424
188920#405
188823#387
188715#438
188617#431
188522#380
188425#352
188318#412
188222#377
188123#342
188017#425

Names like Israel

Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.

Raphael, Gabriel, Isaiah, Elijah, Isaac, Elias, Nathaniel, Tobias, Zachary, Noah, Caleb, Ismael

Other spellings of Israel

Izrael, Isreal, Izreal, Isrrael

Names related to Israel

Yisrael

More Hebrew names

Isabella, James, Jack, Mia, Ava, Jude, Ezra, Benjamin, Jacob, Ethan, Daniel, Samuel, Mateo, Elsie, Levi, Eliana

Every Hebrew name

Sources

Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.

To cite this page: Nameling, “Israel: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/israel, updated 20 October 2026.