“The angel of the Lord said to her: Behold, you will conceive and bear a son; you will call his name Ishmael, as the Lord has heard your suffering” (Genesis 16:11). “The angel of the Lord said to her: Behold, you will conceive [and bear a son; you will call his name Ishmael]…” – Rabbi Yitzḥak said: There are three who were called by their names by the Holy One blessed be He before they were created.
They are: Isaac, Solomon, and Yoshiyahu. Regarding Isaac it is written: “But Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you will call his name Isaac” (Genesis 17:19). Regarding Solomon, what does it say? “Behold, a son will be born to you, he will be a man of rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies…Solomon will be his name” (I Chronicles 22:9).
Regarding Yoshiyahu it is written: “He called against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said: Altar, altar! So said the Lord: Behold, a son will be born to the house of David, Yoshiyahu is his name” (I Kings 13:2). Some say: Also Ishmael, among the nations – “Behold, you will conceive and bear a son; you will call his name Ishmael.”