Ahead of the new calendar year, Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority just released the country’s most popular names of 2025, which included some surprising contenders that had not made the list last year. Names like Esther, Noam and Moshe were pushed out of the top 10 lists, while names like Ella, Ari and Michael rose to the top 10.
Here are the 10 most popular names is Israel for girls and boys from this past year. It’s full of gems that will hopefully help anyone hoping to name babies in 2026:
Girls’ Names:
1. Abigail/Avigayil — Abigail, or Avigayil, remains the most popular girls’ name in Israel. This name means my father’s joy and is the name of King David’s third wife, considered by many rabbis as “one of the wisest women in Jewish tradition.” It definitely has a lot of reasons to be popular.
2. Miryan/Miriam/Maryam — This name is popular in the Arab sector, and comes from the sister of Moses; it means “beloved.”
3. Libi/Libby — Meaning “my heart,” or “my beloved” in Hebrew, this is a fairly modern name in Israel. We first saw it as a baby name in the 1970s, but it really gained popularity in the 2010s and 2020s.
4. Tamar — One of the seven species in the Bible, Tamar means “date” and signifies both sweetness and deep Jewish roots. Some famous Israelis with the name include singers Tamar Reili and Tamar Yahalomi and the fictional Tamar Rabinayan of the hit show “Tehran.”
5. Lia — A version of the name Leah, one of the biblical matriarchs, and a name that means “God is for me” in Hebrew, the name Lia or Liya started gaining popularity in Israel in the 2000s. Actress Lia Elalouf and influencer and model Liya Noga are some of the most influential Israelis with the name.
6. Sarah — The Hebrew name means princess, and is the name of the first Jewish matriarch, Abraham’s wife. It’s a name that has been popular in Israel since its founding, with a brief decline in popularity in the 60s.
7. Yael — The Hebrew name that means ibex (the wild mountain goat) has been, for the most part, rising in popularity in Israel since its founding, and reached its peak popularity in the 2000s. Many Israeli stars bear the name Yael — from “Jane the Virgin’s” Yael Grobglas, to supermodel Yael Shelbia, to actress Yael Abecassis, who recently starred in the October 7 series “One Day in October,” as an October 7 survivor who lost her eldest son and the father of her children in the attack.
8. Ella — The name Ella has many meanings, from the Hebrew word for goddess, to God is my oath, to terebinth tree. And while there are a few famous Ellas in Israel, including singer Ella-Lee, many Israelis know the names thanks to October 7 survivors and warriors, from Ella Ben-Ami, daughter of hostage Ohad Ben-Ami, who called the news to helplessly report that her father was missing hours after the attack, to Ela Haimi, a survivor of the attack who gave birth to her younger son after her husband, Tal Haimi, was slain and taken hostage from their kibbutz of Nir Yitzhak.
9. Ayala — Animal names remain popular in Israel. Ayala, which means “doe” or “gazelle,” began to rise in popularity as a name in the 2010s. It is also the name of a poem by Israeli poet Yona Wallach, recently set to song by beloved Israeli singer Yehudit Ravitz.
10. Noa — Noa, a Biblical name and one that comes from the Hebrew word for movement, began to rise in popularity in the 1990s. Some of Israel’s biggest stars have this name, from Eurovision singer Noa Kirel to “Checkout” actress Noa Koler, whose 2025 series, “Happy Place,” got rave reviews.
Boys’ Names:
1. Mohammed — The most popular name in Israel remains Mohammed, the name of Islam’s greatest prophet, and is primarily popular in the Arab sector.
2. Yosef/Yusuf — While Yosef has been consistently popular in Israel since its founding, the name has become more popular in the Arab sector.
3. Adam— Adam, the name of the first man from Genesis and the Hebrew word for “man,” first peaked in popularity in the country in 1987, thanks to 80s heartthrob Adam (no last name, like Cher), who passed away in 2024. It has risen in popularity since the 90s.
4. Ariel — Lion names remain incredibly popular among boys, with the unisex Ariel, which means “lion of God” as the most popular this year. The lion of Judah has always been an important symbol in Judaism, and particularly important to Israelis. Ariel has slowly risen in popularity since 1948, and as a girls’ name in the late 80s, the name’s popularity peaked in the 2000s.
5. David — This year has been a big year for the Bible’s most iconic kings, with a second season of “The House of David” released on Prime Video, and the premiere of an animated movie of the film about the Biblical icon, but in Israel, the name has been a hit since the state’s founding.
6. Lavi — Another lion that only became popular in the 2010s, Lavi got special significance this year when the Iran–Israel war was named “Am Ka’Lavi,” (literally, a people like a lion) or Operation Rising Lion in English.
7. Raphael/Rafael — The name means “God heals,” and it really rose in popularity in the 2010s, and feels especially touching in a nation that needs healing.
8. Omer— The Hebrew name, which means “bundle of crops” started rising in popularity in the 1980s, and is the name of Israeli’s most successful Mizrahi singer, Omer Adam. This year marked the release of hostage Omer Shev Tov and the body of Jewish American hostage Omer Neutra.
9. Eitan — Eitan is the Hebrew word for strong and resilient, and shows that many Israeli parents are trying to manifest that into their newborns.
10. Michael — The classic Hebrew name is not as popular as it was in Israel in the years after its founding, but has been slowly regaining popularity since the late 2010s, maybe thanks to Israeli heartthrob Michael Aloni, who also stars in the recently released second season of “One Day in October.”
