Ismail — Name Meaning in Islam

Origin: Hebrew Yishmaʿel, "God hears", carried into Arabic as Ismāʿīl. The Qur'an keeps the name in its original shape, as it does with Ibrahim and Yaqub.

Who carried it: the Prophet Ismail, elder son of Ibrahim and of Hajar. He is the son who was settled with his mother in the barren valley that became Makkah; the running between Safa and Marwa retraces his mother's search for water for him, and the well of Zamzam is bound to that account. With his father he raised the foundations of the House — "and when Ibrahim was raising the foundations of the House, and Ismail" (al-Baqara 2:127). The Qur'an praises him in his own right as true to his promise (Maryam 19:54), and describes the son of the sacrifice as forbearing, a description the majority of commentators read of him.

Spellings: Ismail, Isma'il, Ismaeel, İsmail (Turkish), Ismail (Indonesian), Ismaeel (Urdu), Ismaïl / Smaïl (French and Maghrebi), إسماعيل.

Pronunciation: is-maa-ʿEEL — there is an ʿayn before the final long vowel, which English spellings usually drop; the careful Arabic is is-mā-ʿīl, four beats.

Feminine counterpart: none formed from the name.