Israel

Where Israel comes from

From Middle English Israel, from Old English, borrowed from Latin Israel, from Ancient Greek Ἰσραήλ (Israḗl), from Hebrew יִשְׂרָאֵל (yisra'él, “Israel”). In the Bible, it is said to be from the name יִשְׂרֶה אֵל (yisré 'él) given to Jacob in Genesis 32:29, after which his descendants came to be known as Israelites and their land as the "kingdom/land of Israel". The personal name, already attested in Eblaite 𒅖𒊏𒅋 (iš-ra-il) and Ugaritic 𐎊𐎌𐎗𐎛𐎍 (yšrỉl), has been variously translated as "he wrestles with God", "he prevails with God", or "God rules" (possibly from the same root ש־ר־ה/ש־ר־ר as שָׂרָה (“Sarah”)). Line 27 of the Merneptah Stele (from about 1200 B.C.E.) is thought to contain the earliest attestation of the name Israel in any language, Egyptian ysrjꜣr. : i-i-z:Z1s*Z1s:r-i-A-r:Z1*T14-A1*B1:Z2 Doublet of Yisroel.
— Wiktionary's entry for Israel
  • Hebrew
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #425 among boys — 17 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1955
    Israel Katz born
    Israeli politician, Minister of Defense of Israel
  3. 1959
    Israel Kamakawiwoʻole born
    Hawaiian singer
  4. 2006
    Peak, #202
    1,927 babies named Israel — more than any year before or since.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Hebrew.
  • Another name for Jacob, notably after Genesis 32:28 and in later references.
Namesakes
  • Israel Kamakawiwoʻole · Hawaiian singer, 1959–1997
  • Israel Katz · Israeli politician, Minister of Defense of Israel, born 1955
  • Israel Gelfand · Soviet-American mathematician, 1913–2009
  • Israel Zangwill · British Zionist author, 1864–1926
  • Israel Adesanya · Nigerian mixed martial artist, born 1989

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.