NameRealm
Issa

Issa: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“Jesus”
Origin
Arabic
Say it
EE-suh · 2 syllables
Used for
Both (28% girls, 72% boys since 1880)

Arabic form of Jesus, used in the Quran for ʿĪsā. It is also found as a given name in parts of Africa influenced by Arabic and Islam.

Arabic namesAfrican namesNames meaning faithBiblical namesInternational namesShort names

How popular is Issa?

202459.0 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Issa in 2024196

2024 rank#1,530 boys

Peak year2024

Total US babies since 18803,058

Issa is rising: use over the last five years is 2.2× what it was a decade earlier.

Names like Issa

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • JesusYahweh is salvation · Hebrew
  • IsaJesus · Arabic
  • Alihigh, exalted · Arabic
  • Amiriprincely, of a commander · Arabic
  • Kharicharitable · Arabic
  • RumiRoman; from Anatolia · Arabic
  • Samielevated, sublime · Arabic
  • Imanfaith · Arabic

Issa questions

What does the name Issa mean?

Issa means "Jesus". It comes from Arabic. Arabic form of Jesus, used in the Quran for ʿĪsā. It is also found as a given name in parts of Africa influenced by Arabic and Islam.

Is Issa a boy or girl name?

Issa is used for both: about 28% of US babies named Issa since 1880 were girls.

How popular is Issa?

196 US babies were named Issa in 2024. Its peak year was 2024.

How do you pronounce Issa?

Issa is usually pronounced EE-suh.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.