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The first name 
Isaiah

Isaiah is a male first name. In very rare cases it is also used for girls.

The name Isaiah is very popular!

The first name Isaiah is one of the top 100 most popular boys names in the US – currently at #46 in our SmartGenius ranking. Over 1,000 babies each year are named Isaiah, accounting for approximately 0.40 % of all newborn boys. In the entire USA, approximately 233,358 people – children, adults and seniors – currently bear the name Isaiah. That is 0.07 % of all living Americans.

You won't believe all there is 
to discover about the name
 
Isaiah

What does the name 
Isaiah mean?

The first name Isaiah is derived from the Hebrew word ‘Yeshayahu” and means ‘Yahweh is Salvation’. Probably the best known Isaiah is a prophet in the Book of Isaiah.

Isaiah has many famous namesakes

A rapper

Isaiah Rashad (*1991)
He is an American rapper and songwriter who found early success in local talent competitions and eventually landed a record deal with Top Dawg Entertainment, the label that also signed artists such as Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q. He released his first longer track 'Cilvia Demo' in 2014 to success, as well as his debut album 'The Sun's Tirade' in 2016. His music has often been described as introspective and personal.

An actor

Isaiah Washington (*1963)
Isaiah Washington's entry into the film business was greatly influenced by Spike Lee, who made four films with him, including 'Clockers' (1994). He began his career as an actor in plays and off-Broadway productions. His first big break as an actor came in the 1998 film 'Out of Sight', in which he starred alongside George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez. Washington also starred as Dr Preston Burke in the hit television series 'Grey's Anatomy' from 2005 to 2007.

A philosopher and historian

Isaiah Berlin (1909 - 1997)
Sir Isaiah Berlin was a British philosopher and historian who had a long career as an academic teacher and writer. Berlin was an expert in the history of ideas, with a focus on the analysis of political ideas in the 19th and 20th centuries. He published many books and essays on topics such as liberalism, nationalism, socialism and historical figures such as Karl Marx. Considered one of the most important liberal-conservative intellectuals of the 20th century, Berlin had a major impact on political debate in Britain and beyond. He was also a well-known and respected speaker, giving many lectures and talks.

Football wide receiver

Isaiah Mustafa (*1974)
Former American football wide receiver Isaiah Amir Mustafa moved to Los Angeles after his football career to become an actor. He had his breakthrough role in 2010 as 'The Man Your Man Could Smell Like' in a series of commercials for Old Spice, in which he made unusual and humorous statements. Since then, Mustafa has appeared in various films and television series, including 'Horrible Bosses' (2011), 'It Chapter Two' (2019) and 'Shadowhunters' (2016 - 2019).

A former baketball player

Isaiah Thomas (*1989)
Isaiah Thomas is a former American basketball player who played in the NBA. He was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the 60th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft and played for various teams including the Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets. His best years were with the Boston Celtics, where he was named an All-Star in 2016 and 2017 and finished third in the NBA in scoring twice. He retired from the NBA in 2020.

A prophet

Isaiah
Isaiah is a prophet in the Old Testament of the Bible. He lived in the 8th century BC, after whom the book of Isaiah is named, and was one of the most important prophets of the Old Testament. He was a prophet of the Kingdom of Judah and had a very long prophetic ministry, spanning the reigns of four kings. Isaiah's message was mainly against the immorality and false worship of his day. He urged people to repent of their sins and to strengthen their faith in God. He also prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and the return of the Jews to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity.

Go on a journey to places 
with your name

When you hear the name Isaiah, you might first think of people. But did you know that there are also places with the name Isaiah? Are you also called Isaiah? Maybe one day you will visit the places that are named just like you...

A ghost town

Isaiah is a ghost town in California that lost its population after the railroad was rerouted in the 1960s.

A bridge

The Isaiah David Hart Bridge is a truss bridge that spans the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. It is named after Isaiah Hart, the founder of Jacksonville.

Isaiah -
someone you can count on

Isaiah is the epitome of persistance. Every single year since first names have been registered in the United States, parents have come up with the idea of naming their son Isaiah. This means that several boys and men named Isaiah have witnessed major events such as the first Nobel Prize ceremony, the moon landing, the release of the first cell phone, or the turn of the millennium. The first name Isaiah has reached its best rank of 40 several times, most recently in 2009. Moreover, the name has been in the top 100 numerous times. This makes Isaiah one of the most popular names of all time.

In years where the graph has no value, the name Isaiah was given less than five times or even none at all in the entire USA.

Isaiah in 2022 - still quite popular

Isaiah will be Isaiah. Like every other year, there were newborns named Isaiah in 2022 – in fact 5,366 to be precise, confirming Isaiah is still a very popular first name. In this most recent year for which US-wide statistics are available, the name ranked #61 among all boys‘ names. Incidentally, the least popular year for Isaiah was 1970, when only 52 baby boys were named Isaiah.

Isaiah -
well known in all states of the USA, most popular in New Mexico

There are only 386 different male names registered in every single state in the U.S., and Isaiah is one of them. However, Isaiah is not equally widespread in all states, but people in New Mexico seem to particularly fancy this name – the 3,479 men called Isaiah who live here are 0,376% of all male residents and push their name up to #64 in our SmartGenius statistics, easily placing it in the top 100 most common male names in New Mexico. If you look at all the states in the USA together, you can currently find as many as 233,358 people with the name Isaiah. Across all regions and age groups, this lands Isaiah on position 154 in our SmartGenius ranking of the top male names – of course, the current popularity as a baby name for newborns looks somewhat different, as you can see from the statistics above.

Isaiah has 6 letters 
and begins with an I

Well, you might say, you probably figured that out yourself! But what you might not know is: The letter I is quite rare as a first letter for boys' names: only 1.5% of all common boys' names in the US begin with an I. The most common first letters of boys' names, by the way, are J, A and D, while X, U and Q are the least common initials of boys' names.

With six letters, the name Isaiah is of average length. In fact, 28% of all common first names in the US consist of exactly six letters. 24% of all first names are shorter, while 48% have seven letters or more. On average, first names in the US (not counting hyphenated names) are 6.5 letters long. There are no significant differences between boys' and girls' names.

That means that if 1.5% of all boys' names begin with an I, this initial letter is significantly less common than the other letters on average. Nevertheless, there are boys' names with I that are quite popular, the most common at present is Isaac.

Other names with 
I, s, a, i, a and h

If you take all the letters in the name Isaiah – I, s, a, i, a and h – and put them together again, you can form other names, such as Isahia or others.

With hands, flags and sounds 
How to say Isaiah

If your name is Isaiah and someone asks after your name, you can of course just tell them what it is. But sometimes that isn't so easy - what if it's too loud, and you don't understand them well? Or what if the other person is so far away that you can see them but not hear them? In these situations, you can communicate your name in so many other ways: you call spell it, sign it, or even use a flag to wave it...

This is how you spell the name Isaiah

So that everyone really understands you when you have to spell the name Isaiah, you can simply say:

Igloo

Sun

Apple

Igloo

Apple

Hat

This is how the name Isaiah is spelled in the NATO phonetic alphabet

The NATO alphabet often helps people spell words on the phone or radio when there are communication problems.

How do you write Isaiah in Braille?

Braille is made up of dots, which the blind and visually impaired can feel to read words.

Isaiah

Isaiah

You want to tell a deaf person that your name is Isaiah

Just use American Sign Language!

The name Isaiah is particularly colorful in the Semaphore flag signaling system!

These flags are used for maritime communication - each flag represents a letter.

I
S
A
I
A
H

Have you ever waved the name Isaiah

In the navy, sailors of two ships might wave flags to each other to send messages. A sailor holds two flags in specific positions to represent different letters.

I
S
A
I
A
H

Beeping like crazy...

In Morse code, letters and other characters are represented only by a series of short and long tones. For example, a short tone followed by a long tone stands for the letter A. Isaiah sounds like this: