Ishmael

Ishmael is a given name of Hebrew origin, from Yishma’el, meaning “God will hear” or “God listens.” In English and many other languages, it is rendered as Ishmael, Ismael, or Ismail, with Arabic variants such as Ismail.

In the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, Ishmael is the first son of Abraham and his wife Hagar. He is traditionally considered the ancestor of the Ishmaelites, a nomadic people mentioned in various biblical passages. The narrative describes Hagar’s treatment and expulsion, after which God promises to bless Ishmael and make him into a great nation. The Genesis accounts place his life and lineage in the broader Abrahamic story.

In Islamic tradition, Isma’il (Ishmael) is regarded as a prophet and the son of Abraham. He is associated with stories of obedience to God and is revered as an ancestor of many Arab peoples. Some traditions hold that he and Abraham, together, played a role in the rites or rebuilding of the Kaaba in Mecca. The Qur’an recounts the near-sacrifice of Isma’il and emphasizes his faithfulness and submission to God.

In literature, Ishmael appears as a central figure in Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick (1851) as the named narrator who recounts his voyage aboard the whaling ship Pequod. The name also serves as the title and protagonist of Daniel Quinn’s 1992 novel Ishmael, in which a telepathic gorilla mentors a human student on questions of civilization and sustainability.

Today, Ishmael remains a common given name across cultures, with variants such as Ismael and Ismail, reflecting its biblical and Qur’anic roots.