Ismail ( ar, إسماعيل or , ) is an Arabic given name. It corresponds to the English name

Ishmael Ishmael ''Ismaḗl''; Classical/Qur'anic Arabic: إِسْمَٰعِيْل; Modern Standard Arabic: إِسْمَاعِيْل ''ʾIsmāʿīl''; la, Ismael was the first son of Abraham, the common patriarch of the Abrahamic religions; and is cons ...

Etymology and meaning

The literal translation of the name ''Ismail'' is "heard by God" and according to Abrahamic tradition, it refers to the yearning of Abraham and his wife,

Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pio ...

, to have a child. Ismail's mother, however, was not Sarah, but

Hagar Hagar, of uncertain origin; ar, هَاجَر, Hājar; grc, Ἁγάρ, Hagár; la, Agar is a biblical woman. According to the Book of Genesis, she was an Egyptian slave, a handmaiden of Sarah (then known as ''Sarai''), whom Sarah gave to he ...

, Sarah's maidservant, who Sarah gave to Abraham as a concubine because she was unable to have a child. Sarah later does give birth to a son,

Isaac Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was the ...

. According to

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book o ...

, the name is given by God as He heard the cries of Hagar who had been mistreated by Sarah after becoming pregnant and run away. According to Islamic tradition, Ismail's mother,

was also a full wife of the Prophet Abraham.

Given name

* Ismail, son of Ibrahim * Isma'il ibn Musa al-Hadi was an Abbasid prince, son of caliph Al-Hadi (r. 785–786). * Isma'il ibn Jaʽfar al-Mutawakkil, was an Abbasid prince, son of caliph

Al-Mutawakkil Abū al-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad al-Muʿtaṣim bi-ʾllāh ( ar, جعفر بن محمد المعتصم بالله; March 822 – 11 December 861), better known by his regnal name Al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh (, "He who relies on God") was ...

(r. 847—861). * Saint Ismael Orthodox Christian Saint *

Ignatius Ismail Ignatius Ismail was the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Mardin from 1333 until his death in 1365 or 1366. Biography Ismail al-Majd was the son of the deacon John of Mardin and nephew of Ignatius bar Wahib, patriarch of Mardin, and had studied chur ...

(), Syriac Orthodox patriarch of Mardin *

Ismail I Ismail I ( fa, اسماعیل, Esmāʿīl, ; July 17, 1487 – May 23, 1524), also known as Shah Ismail (), was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Iran, ruling as its King of Kings ('' Shahanshah'') from 1501 to 1524. His reign is ofte ...

(1487–1524), the founder of the Safavid dynasty * Ismail Abdul Rahman, Malaysian politician; former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia * Ismail Abu Shanab (1950–2003), Hamas politician *

İsmail Acar İsmail Acar (born 1971) is a leading Turkish painter. He graduated with honors in 1991 from the Finer Arts School of Marmara University . In 1993, Acar received his Master of Arts degree in "Technology and Art", as well as in "Postmodernism P ...

(born 1971), Turkish painter * Ismail Akbay (1930–2003), Turkish scientist * Ismail Amat (1935–2018), Chinese politician *

Ismail al-Armouti Ismail Nazzal al-Armouti (died 23 January 2013) was a Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, w ...

(died 2013), Jordanian politician *

Esmail Babolian Esmail Babolian is an Iranian numerical analyst, best known as the pioneer professor of numerical analysis Numerical analysis is the study of algorithms that use numerical approximation (as opposed to symbolic computation, symbolic manipulation ...

, Iranian numerical analyst * Ismail Balkhi (1918–1968), Afghan politician * Ismail bin Mail, Malaysian inventor of 2 for 1 ringgit * Isma'il Beg, Uyghur rebel leader * İsmail Beşikçi, Turkish scholar * Esmail Davarfar, Iranian actor * İsmail Enver, Turkish military officer * Ismail Ebrahim (1946–2020), South African cricketer * Ismail Fahmi, Egyptian diplomat * İsmail Güldüren, Turkish footballer * Ismail Al Hammadi, Emirati footballer *

Ismail Haniyeh Ismail Abdel Salam Ahmed Haniyeh; sometimes transliterated as Haniya, Haniyah, or Hanieh (born 29 January 1962) is a senior political leader of Hamas and formerly one of two disputed Prime Ministers of the Palestinian National Authority. Hani ...

, Palestinian politician *

Ismail Hoxha Ismail Hoxha is a member of the Assembly of the Republic of Albania for the Democratic Party of Albania The Democratic Party of Albania ( sq, Partia Demokratike e Shqipërisë, PD or PDSH) is a conservatism in Albania, conservative list of p ...

, Albanian politician Professor Ph.D University " La Sapienza" Rome * Isma'il ibn Jafar, Imam of Ismaili Shia's * Ismail Kadare (born 1936), Albanian novelist, poet, essayist, and playwright * İsmail Kartal, Turkish footballer *

İsmail Keleş İsmail Keleş (born 5 March 1988 in Ankara) is a Turkish sport shooter competing in the pistol events. By profession a non-commissioned officer at the Turkish Gendarmerie, the tall athlete at , is a member of Jandarma Gücü Sports Club, wher ...

(born 1988), Turkish sport shooter *

İsmail Köybaşı İsmail Köybaşı (born 10 July 1989) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a left back for Turkish Süper Lig club Trabzonspor. Early life and club career Born to a family from İskenderun, Köybaşı had begun to play football f ...

, Turkish footballer *

Esmail Koushan Esmail Koushan ''or Kooshan'' ( fa, اسماعیل کوشان) (1917–1981) was an Iranian film director who was one of the pioneering figures of Persian cinema. He has been called "the father of the Iranian film industry" by Georges Sadoul. Koush ...

, Iranian film director * Ismail Marzuki, Indonesian composer, songwriter, and musician * Esmail Merat, Iranian politician *

İsmail Ogan İsmail Ogan (5 March 1933 – 26 April 2022) was a Turkish freestyle wrestler and coach. He competed at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics and won a silver and a gold medal, respectively. He also collected three medals at the world championships between ...

, Turkish sport wrestler * İsmail Özdağlar (born 1950), Turkish politician and former government minister *

Isma'il Pasha Isma'il Pasha ( ar, إسماعيل باشا ; 12 January 1830 – 2 March 1895), was the Khedive of Egypt and conqueror of Sudan from 1863 to 1879, when he was removed at the behest of Great Britain. Sharing the ambitious outlook of his gran ...

(1830–1895), Wali and khedive of Egypt *

Ismail Patel Ismail Patel (born 1962) is a British optician, and founder of Friends of Al-Aqsa, an NGO based in Leicester. He is an advisory board member of the Conflicts Forum, director of IslamExpo, and a member of the Special Advisory Board of Clear Cons ...

, British optician * Ismail Samani, Amir of the Samanids * Ismail Ibn Sharif, Moroccan sultan * Esmail Shooshtari, Iranian politician *

Ismail Siddiq Ismail Siddiq, also known as Ismail Siddiq Pasha and Ismail Al Mufash, (1830–1876) was an Egyptian statesman who served as the finance minister from 1868 to 1876. He was one of the prominent members of the dhawāt which refers to noble indivi ...

(1830–1876), Egyptian politician *

Ismail Tiliwaldi Ismail Tiliwaldi ( ug, ئىسمائىل تىلىۋالدى, ; born November 1944) is a retired Chinese politician of Uyghur heritage. He was the chairman of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the head of the Xinjiang government, from 2003 to ...

, Chinese politician *

İsmail Türüt İsmail Türüt (born 8 June 1965) is a Turkish folk music artist from the Black Sea Region. "Plan Yapmayın Plan" controversy His 2007 album, Dünya Tatlısı, contains a song named ''Plans, don't make any plans'' ( tr, Plan Yapmayın Plan), w ...

, Turkish singer * Ismail Qemali, distinguished leader of the Albanian national movement *

Esmail Zanjani Esmail D. Zanjani is a professor and medical researcher at the University of Nevada, Reno. His research involves growing human cells within sheep embryos. In March 2007, it was announced that Zanjani had created a human-sheep chimera. Zanjani has s ...

, American academic * Ismail ibn Musa Menk, Grand Mufti of Zimbabwe * Ismail Abushaikha, Academician at Cranfield University, United Kingdom.

Middle name

* Ahmad Ismail Ali (1917–1974), Egyptian army officer

Surname or patronymic

* Abu Isma'il ibn Harun, was the son of Abbasid caliph

Harun al-Rashid Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar , أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...

Ahmed Abu Ismail Ahmed Abu Ismail (1915–2013) was an Egyptian economist and politician who served as minister of finance in the 1970s. Early life and education Ismail was born in Samannud in March 1915. He hailed from a wealthy middle-class family. He attended ...

(1915–2013), Egyptian economist and politician * Abdul Fattah Ismail (1934-1986), Yemeni politician *

Atik Ismail Atik Ismail (born 5 January 1957) is a Finnish former footballer. He played 26 matches in the Finland national football team scoring 7 goals. Ismail was the top scorer of Finnish premier division Mestaruussarja in 1978, 1979 and 1982. In 1978, h ...

(born 1957), Finnish footballer * Dhurgham Ismail, Iraqi football player * Gulalai Ismail, Pashtun women's rights activist *

Hamid Ismail Hamid Ismail Hassan Khalifa Hamid 1 is a Qatari footballer of Sudanese descent who can play at right back and on the right wing. He currently plays for Al-Arabi of the Qatar Stars League and the Qatar national football team. Club career Ismail ...

, Qatari footballer * Hesham Ismail, American football player *

Mohammed Ismail Muhammad Ismail Agha is an Afghan national who was among some 15-21 juveniles held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps. He is believed to be 13 or 14 years old when arrested by Afghan soldiers. Detained without charge, he was released on Januar ...

, Afghan Guantanamo Bay detainee * Mourad Ismail, Egyptian Mathematician * Mustafa Ismail, Egyptian Qur'an reciter * Mustafa Osman Ismail, Sudanese politician * Nabawi Ismail, Egyptian politician * Ibrahim Artan Ismail Somali politician, former Minister of Security of Puntland * Qadry Ismail, an NCAA and NFL football player * Raghib "Rocket" Ismail, an NCAA and NFL football player * Rami Ismail, Dutch Game Developer * Salma Ismail (1918–2014), Malaysian doctor * Sam Esmail, Egyptian-American screenwriter * Sariamin Ismail, Indonesian novelist * Shabnim Ismail (born 1988), South African cricketer * Shaker Ismail, Iraqi football player * Sherif Ismail, Egyptian politician * Sulaiman Ismail, an

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

player *

Taufiq Ismail Taufiq Ismail (born 25 June 1935) is an Indonesian poet, activist and the editor of the monthly literary magazine ''Horison''. Ismail figured prominently in Indonesian literature of the post-Sukarno period and is considered one of the pioneers of ...

, Indonesian poet and activist * Usmar Ismail, director and pioneer of Indonesian film

Etymology and meaning

Given name

Middle name

Surname or patronymic

See also