Ismail (name)

Ismail (Arabic: إسماعيل or إسمٰعيل, ʼIsmāʻīl) is an Arabic given name. It corresponds to the English name Ishmael.

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

According to Genesis, 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, Hagar was also a full wife of the Prophet Abraham.

Given name

• Ismail, son of Ibrahim
• Ismail ibn Jafar, sixth imam in Ismaili Shia Islam
• Isma'il ibn Musa al-Hadi was an Abbasid prince, son of caliph Al-Hadi (r. 785–786). Nephew and son-in-law of caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809)
• Isma'il ibn Jaʽfar al-Mutawakkil, was an Abbasid prince, son of caliph Al-Mutawakkil (r. 847—861)
• Saint Ismael Orthodox Christian Saint
• Ignatius Ismail (r. 1333–1365/1366), Syriac Orthodox patriarch of Mardin
• Ismail I (1487–1524), the first king and founder of the Safavid dynasty
• Ismail II (r. 1576–1577) third King of Safavid State
• Ismail Sabri Abdullah (1924–2006), Egyptian economist and politician
• Ismail Abdul Rahman, Malaysian politician; former deputy prime minister
• Ismail Abu Shanab (1950–2003), Hamas politician
• İsmail Acar (born 1971), Turkish painter
• Ismail Akbay (1930–2003), Turkish scientist
• Ismail Amat (1935–2018), Chinese politician
• Ismail al-Armouti (died 2013), Jordanian politician
• Esmail Babolian, Iranian numerical analyst
• Ismail Balkhi (1918–1968), Afghan politician
• Isma'il Beg, Uyghur rebel leader
• Ismail Qasim Naji, Somali politician
• İsmail Beşikçi, Turkish scholar
• Esmail Davarfar, Iranian actor
• İsmail Enver, Turkish military officer
• Ismail Ebrahim (1946–2020), South African cricketer
• Ismail el Abassi (born 1983), Dutch politician
• Ismail Fahmi, Egyptian diplomat
• İsmail Güldüren, Turkish footballer
• Ismail Al Hammadi, Emirati footballer
• Ismail Haniyeh, Palestinian politician
• Ismail Hoxha, 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 (born 1988), Turkish sport shooter
• Ismail Khan, 16th-century Bengali nobleman
• İsmail Köybaşı, Turkish footballer
• Esmail Koushan, Iranian film director
• Ismail Marzuki, Indonesian composer, songwriter, and musician
• Ismail Matar (born 1983), Emirati footballer
• Esmail Merat, Iranian politician
• Ismail ibn Musa Menk (born 1975), Zimbabwean Islamic scholar
• İsmail Nezir (born 2003), Turkish hurdler and sprinter
• İsmail Ogan, Turkish sport wrestler
• İsmail Özdağlar (born 1950), Turkish politician and former government minister
• Isma'il Pasha (1830–1895), Wali and khedive of Egypt
• Ismail Patel, British optician
• Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Malaysian politician who served as the ninth Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2021 to 2022
• Ismail Samani, Amir of the Samanids
• Ismail Ibn Sharif, Moroccan sultan
• Esmail Shooshtari, Iranian politician
• Ismail Siddiq (1830–1876), Egyptian politician
• Ismail Tiliwaldi, Chinese politician
• Ismail Tipi (1959–2013), Turkish-born German journalist and politician
• İsmail Türüt, Turkish singer
• Ismail Qemali, distinguished leader of the Albanian national movement
• Esmail Zanjani, American academic
• Ismail ibn Musa Menk, Grand Mufti of Zimbabwe

Middle name

• Ahmad ibn Isma'il ibn Ali al-Hashimi was provincial governor who was active in the late eighth century.
• Ahmad Ismail Ali (1917–1974), Egyptian army officer
• Ammar Ismail Yahia Ibrahim (born 1996), Qatari sprinter

Surname or patronymic

• Abu Isma'il ibn Harun, was the son of Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid
• Adel Ismail (historian) (1928–2010), Lebanese diplomat and historian
• Ahmed Abu Ismail (1915–2013), Egyptian economist and politician
• Abdul Fattah Ismail (1934-1986), Yemeni politician
• Atik Ismail (born 1957), Finnish footballer
• Dhurgham Ismail, Iraqi football player
• Gulalai Ismail, Pashtun women's rights activist
• Hamid Ismail, Qatari footballer
• Hesham Ismail, American football player
• Mahmoud Ismail (1914–1983), Egyptian actor, filmmaker
• Mohammed Ismail, 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 (1955–2023), Egyptian engineer and politician
• Sulaiman Ismail, an Arena Football League player
• Taufiq Ismail, Indonesian poet and activist
• Usmar Ismail, director and pioneer of Indonesian film

See also

• Sultan Ismail (disambiguation)
• Ismail (disambiguation)