Fun Facts About the Name Yissel
- 381 babies named Yissel: U.S. records list 381 babies given the name Yissel from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Yissel Mean?
Yissel is a feminine given name used mainly in Spanish-speaking countries and among Hispanic families in the United States. It is generally understood as a Spanish-style spelling of the French name Giselle (also Gisèle) and of its older form Gisela. Those names descend from a Germanic element, Old High German gisil, whose literal sense is "pledge" or "hostage"; the customary short gloss given to the name is "pledge."
The spelling with y belongs to Spanish-speaking usage, where Yisel, Yisela, and Yissel appear alongside Gisela and Giselle. Because the letter g before e or i has a harsh sound in Spanish, the y spellings give the name a soft opening sound and a look that reads naturally in Spanish. The doubled s in Yissel also keeps the middle consonant as a plain s rather than the z sound that English speakers often use in Giselle.
Yissel Name History & Origins
The source name Gisela was borne by noblewomen in the early medieval Frankish and German lands, among them a daughter of Charlemagne and Gisela of Bavaria, who married King Stephen I of Hungary around the year 1000. From German-speaking regions the name passed into French as Gisèle and Giselle. A ballet called Giselle, first performed in Paris in 1841, made the French form familiar to audiences far beyond France; that is a well-known later use of the name, not its origin.
The forms written with y - Yisela, Yisel, Yissel - belong to Spanish-speaking communities, where they developed as everyday spellings of the same name rather than as a separate tradition with its own recorded early forms. Documentation for these y spellings is thin, and they are best described as modern Spanish-language variants of Gisela and Giselle rather than as names with an independent documented history.
How Popular is the Name Yissel?
Yissel has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2007. Its best rank was #5,655 in 1999.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #14,878 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2024 | #10,209 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2023 | #17,516 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2021 | #13,416 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2020 | #17,427 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2019 | #15,472 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2017 | #18,345 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2016 | #9,399 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2015 | #12,960 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2013 | #13,104 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2012 | #10,402 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2011 | #8,601 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2010 | #7,204 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 2009 | #12,404 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2008 | #8,099 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 2007 | #6,078 | 23 | 0.0012% |
| 2006 | #8,229 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2005 | #9,440 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2004 | #8,243 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2003 | #7,198 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 2002 | #8,824 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2001 | #6,946 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 2000 | #6,802 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1999 | #5,655 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 1998 | #6,356 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1997 | #6,478 | 15 | 0.0009% |
| 1996 | #9,568 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1995 | #9,538 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1994 | #13,406 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1993 | #10,575 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1992 | #13,303 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1991 | #15,435 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1990 | #15,215 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1989 | #12,344 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1986 | #9,531 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1982 | #10,502 | 6 | 0.0004% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Yissel Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You have a strong need for freedom - physical, mental and spiritual. You hate bondage in any form. You have love of beauty and philosophy, and you desire achievement. You are willing to take spiritual matters on faith instead of subjecting them to mental analysis. You are inventive, intuitive and extremely methodical. Since your will is so strong, you are hard to convince. You also dislike advice. You love beauty and philosophy, and you desire achievement. You have a strong need for freedom - physical, mental and spiritual.
Position and social status is very important for you and you are always looking for way to improve your position in society. You have power and ability to chose your own destiny and achieve anything you want in life. You can expand in any direction according to your will and the set of values. You have passion for justice and belong to the position of authority. You have an inherent courage and endurance to accomplish "The Impossible Dream". With the power comes responsibility. You hold keys to the material world, but with this gift comes high spiritual responsibility to be fair and true to others. You are philosophical and mature, determined and intense with a desire to endure, often religious.
✦ Yissel's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Yissel's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.