Iszac
A unique variant of the Hebrew name Isaac meaning "he laughs".
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Iszac. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Iszac today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Iszac births was 2009 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Iszac. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Iszac with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Iszac. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
2009
6 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2009 SSA rank
#11,531
Tracked since 1998
Popularity
Iszac: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Iszac from the 1990s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 6 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Iszac by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Iszac during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Iszac
The name Iszac is a variant spelling of the Hebrew name Isaac, which means "he laughs" or "he will laugh." The name has its origins in the biblical story of Abraham and Sarah, where Sarah laughs in disbelief when told by God that she will bear a son in her old age. The child born to them is named Isaac.
This name first appeared in the Book of Genesis, one of the earliest texts of the Hebrew Bible, which is believed to have been written between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE. The name Isaac has been commonly used among Jewish and Christian communities throughout history, as it holds significant religious and cultural significance.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Iszac can be found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of ancient Jewish manuscripts dating back to the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE. These scrolls contain various spellings and variations of the name, including Iszac.
In the Middle Ages, the name Iszac was found in various historical records and documents across Europe. One notable figure was Iszac ben Joseph of Corbeil, a 12th-century French Jewish scholar and author of a commentary on the Talmud.
Another prominent individual was Iszac Luria, also known as the Ari (1534-1572), a renowned Jewish mystic and scholar who made significant contributions to the study of Kabbalah. His teachings and writings had a profound impact on Jewish mystical thought.
In the 16th century, Iszac Abravanel (1437-1508) was a Portuguese Jewish philosopher, theologian, and statesman who served as a finance minister in Portugal and later in Spain before being expelled during the Inquisition.
In the realm of literature, Iszac Bashevis Singer (1902-1991) was a Polish-American writer and Nobel Laureate known for his works depicting Jewish life in Poland and the United States. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978.
These are just a few examples of notable figures throughout history who bore the name Iszac or a variant spelling of the Hebrew name Isaac. The name has maintained its cultural and religious significance across various communities and has been used in various forms over the centuries.
People
Iszac + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Iszac as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Iszac: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Iszac?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Iszac going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Iszac a common name?
We classify Iszac as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Iszac most popular?
The single biggest year for Iszac was 2009, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Iszac is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Iszac in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Iszac a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Iszac in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Iszac still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Iszac in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Iszac can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Iszac?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.