Find out how popular the last name Isak is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Isak.

Isak, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Isak surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Isak in America

Isak is the 65593rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Isak surname appeared 302 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Isak.

We can also compare 2010 data for Isak to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Isak

The surname ISAK originated in Sweden and Norway in the 17th century. It was derived from the Hebrew given name Isaac, which means "he who laughs" or "he will laugh." The name Isaac was popular among Scandinavian Christians during this period, and the surname ISAK emerged as a patronymic form, meaning "son of Isaac."

In Sweden, the earliest recorded instance of the surname ISAK dates back to 1679 when a man named Erik Isak was mentioned in the parish records of Kalmar. Another early reference can be found in the 1690 census of Stockholm, which listed a family with the surname ISAK residing in the Södermalm district.

In Norway, the surname ISAK appeared in the 1701 census of Christiania (now Oslo), where a man named Hans Isak was listed as a merchant. The name was also found in the 1711 census of Trondheim, where a farmer named Ole Isak was recorded.

One of the earliest notable individuals with the surname ISAK was Nils Isak Behm (1680-1753), a Swedish cartographer and geographer who worked on mapping projects for the Swedish Empire. Another prominent figure was Johan Isak Rehn (1719-1793), a Swedish botanist and student of Carl Linnaeus, who made significant contributions to the study of plant taxonomy.

In the 19th century, the ISAK surname gained prominence with individuals such as Gustaf Isak Björklund (1846-1923), a Swedish politician and member of the Riksdag, and Edvard Isak Westman (1886-1957), a Norwegian author and playwright known for his works on rural life in Norway.

Moving into the 20th century, notable individuals with the surname ISAK include Sven Isak Åkerström (1905-1985), a Swedish actor and director, and Ivar Isak Tollefsen (1909-1998), a Norwegian politician and member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

While the surname ISAK has its roots in Sweden and Norway, it has since spread to other parts of the world through migration and has been adopted by people of various backgrounds and nationalities.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Isak

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Isak.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Isak was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Isak has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Isak was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Isak, please contact us.

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