Izak
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will laugh".
Name Census estimates that about 1,795 living Americans carry the first name Izak. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Izak today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Izak births was 2008 (105 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Izak. 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 Izak with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.8K
~ 1 in 190,949 Americans
Peak year
2008
105 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,464
Tracked since 1984
Census
Izak in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,586 people with the first name Izak, which placed it at #8,959 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#8,959
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,586 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
53.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Izak
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Izak is White at 53.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (33.9%) and Two or More Races (8.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Izak described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Izak at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.9% · 855
- Hispanic or Latino33.9% · 538
- Two or more races8.4% · 133
- Black or African American1.6% · 25
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 16
Popularity
Izak: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Izak from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 865 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Izak 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 Izak during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Izaks live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. California, Texas, Indiana recorded the most babies named Izak, while Pennsylvania, Florida, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 43 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Izak
The name Izak is derived from the Hebrew name Yitzchak, which is a biblical name meaning "he will laugh" or "he laughs." The name is derived from the Hebrew root tzchk, meaning "to laugh" or "to rejoice." The name Yitzchak appears in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible, where it is given to the son of Abraham and Sarah. The origin of the name can be traced back to around 2000 BCE, during the time of the biblical patriarchs.
The name Izak is a variant spelling of the Hebrew name, likely influenced by the Greek and Latin transliterations of the name, which were Isaak and Isaac, respectively. The name was adopted into various languages, including English, Dutch, and German, where it took on different spellings such as Izak, Isaak, and Isaac.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Izak is in the Hebrew Bible, where it is given to the son of Abraham and Sarah. The biblical story of Izak's birth is significant, as it marks the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham and Sarah, who had been unable to conceive a child for many years.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the name Izak. One example is Izak Walton (1593-1683), an English writer best known for his book "The Compleat Angler," which is considered one of the most famous works on the subject of fishing. Another is Izak da Costa (1798-1860), a Dutch-Jewish philosopher and writer who was influential in the Dutch Enlightenment movement.
In the realm of science, Izak Newton (1642-1727) was a renowned English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and natural philosopher, who is widely regarded as one of the most influential scientists of all time. His work on the laws of motion, gravitation, and optics laid the foundation for modern physics.
Another notable figure is Izak Perlman (born 1945), an Israeli-American violinist, conductor, and music educator who has been recognized for his virtuoso performances and contributions to classical music. He has won numerous awards and honors, including several Grammy Awards and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Finally, Izak Dinesen (1885-1962), born Karen Blixen, was a Danish author known for her captivating stories set in East Africa. Her most famous work, "Out of Africa," is a memoir that recounts her experiences as a plantation owner in Kenya during the early 20th century.
People
Izak + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Izak 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
Izak: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Izak?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,795 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Izak 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 190,949 US residents.
Is Izak a common name?
We classify Izak as "Rare". It ranks above 93.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,818 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Izak most popular?
The single biggest year for Izak was 2008, when 105 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Izak is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Izak in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,586 people with the name Izak, or 0.53 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,959 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Izak in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Izak?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Izak appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,585 people counted with this name, 99.9% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Izak?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Izak is White at 53.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (33.9%) and Two or More Races (8.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Izak most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Izak in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.9% (855 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Izak in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Izak a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Izak 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 Izak still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Izak 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 Izak 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.
How many people are named Izak?
Find out how many people have the name Izak on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.