I did some looking on the web and found some interesting facts. Ishmael (or the Islamic name Ismail) was Abram’s (later to be called Abraham) first son born to the slave girl, Hagar, when Abram was 86 years old. According to the Koran, it was Ishmael, not Isaac, that God commanded Abram to sacrifice on an altar with a knife. In some accounts it was to be done with an ax. Also, in accounts in the Koran, Abram is described as using an ax to destroy pagan idols in the Temple.
Hope it helps.
OR...he was nuts and just made up some crazy name
I still say that far too many people are reading something into the Ishmael Ax things. For all we know, it's a reference to an on line place to buy VT tickets and clothing. :-)