İsmail: Meaning, Origin and Pronunciation
İsmail is a boy’s name of Hebrew origin. It means “God hears: the Turkish form of Ishmael”.
About the name İsmail
- Meaning
- God hears: the Turkish form of Ishmael
- Origin
- Hebrew (biblical)
- From Hebrew via Arabic Ismāʿīl.
- Gender
- Male
- Pronunciation
- ees-mah-eel
How to pronounce İsmail
Turkish spelling is phonetic: every letter is pronounced, and each letter always has the same sound. Our respellingees-mah-eel is an approximation for English speakers. Turkish stresses syllables much more evenly than English, so avoid hitting one syllable hard. Tap the letters below for tips.
Letters English doesn’t haveFamiliar letters with a Turkish twist
- İ
İ keeps its dot as a capital
Names starting with dotted i are written with a capital İ (İpek, İbrahim). Writing I instead turns it into the dotless ı sound.
Read about İ and I →
Practice the sounds in the Turkish alphabet tool or readhow to pronounce i, dotless ı and soft g.
İsmail with Turkish suffixes
Turkish adds case endings where English uses prepositions. With a personal name the ending is separated by anapostrophe (İsmail'e, İsmail'in), but it is still pronounced as one word. The apostrophe only marks where the name ends; the suffix itself follows the usual rules.
The last vowel of İsmail is i, a front unrounded vowel. So two-way suffixes take e and four-way suffixes takei (vowel harmony):İsmail'de, İsmail'i.
Because İsmail ends in a consonant, vowel-initial endings attach directly (İsmail'i, İsmail'e) with no buffer letter.
| Case | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Accusative (object) | İsmail'i | İsmail'i tanıyor musun? Do you know İsmail? |
| Dative (to) | İsmail'e | İsmail'e bir mesaj yazdım. I wrote a message to İsmail. |
| Locative (at / with) | İsmail'de | Anahtarlar İsmail'de. İsmail has the keys. (lit. The keys are at İsmail.) |
| Ablative (from) | İsmail'den | İsmail'den bir hediye aldım. I got a present from İsmail. |
| Genitive (’s) | İsmail'in | Bu İsmail'in çantası. This is İsmail’s bag. |
| Instrumental (with) | İsmail'le | Dün İsmail'le konuştum. I talked with İsmail yesterday. |
Forms are generated by TurkLogic’s tested grammar engine. See every case explained in theTurkish noun cases guide, or check the harmony of any word in thevowel harmony calculator.
Related names
More male names of Hebrew origin
Frequently asked questions
What does the name İsmail mean?
İsmail is a Turkish boy’s name meaning “God hears: the Turkish form of Ishmael”. Its origin is Hebrew (biblical). From Hebrew via Arabic Ismāʿīl.
How do you pronounce İsmail?
Say it roughly as “ees-mah-eel”, keeping every vowel short and clear. Names starting with dotted i are written with a capital İ (İpek, İbrahim). Writing I instead turns it into the dotless ı sound.
How do you add suffixes to İsmail in Turkish?
Because İsmail is a proper name, case endings go after an apostrophe and follow vowel harmony: İsmail'e (to İsmail), İsmail'in (İsmail’s), İsmail'de (at İsmail’s) and İsmail'le (with İsmail).
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