Isaac Name Meaning

With a meaning as joyous as “he will laugh,” it’s no surprise that parents love Isaac. He’s a sweet name with a strong sound, aging well into adulthood.

A biblical name, Isaac was the father of Jacob and Esau and husband to Rebecca. According to Genesis, when God told his father Abraham that his wife Sarah was pregnant with Isaac, the man laughed because of his wife’s advanced age. Sure enough, Isaac came to be. History has a few other notable Isaacs including gravity pioneer Sir Isaac Newton.

As a name, Isaac has a lot going for it when it comes to style. He’s a vowel name, so he instantly ups other names. He also has a unique sound, only similar to his brother Isaiah. According to the charts he’s popular but not nearly at the overused levels seen in other names. He remains a firm fixture in Top 100, wooing parents with his rare double-A styling and easy going vibes.

Isaac is an interesting name that’s very much a rule breaker, defying his ancient roots to somehow remain fresh and modern. He doesn’t feel centuries old, instead easily palling around with the likes of Liam and Zander.

Isaac has a few spelling variations including Isaak and Issac.

Infographic of Isaac name meaning, which is A Hebrew name of great joy, Isaac means he will laugh.
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Isaac Name Popularity

How popular is the name Isaac? Here’s everything we know.

Year Rank # Births % Births
1910 125 218 0.0619%
1911 140 198 0.0532%
1912 164 319 0.0633%
1913 175 349 0.0616%
1914 179 469 0.0673%
1915 196 524 0.0577%
1916 186 591 0.0612%
1917 192 589 0.0589%
1918 194 624 0.0581%
1919 177 709 0.0677%
1920 191 675 0.0607%
1921 210 614 0.0536%
1922 197 672 0.0603%
1923 198 657 0.0587%
1924 198 672 0.0579%
1925 207 641 0.0567%
1926 231 550 0.05%
1927 202 669 0.0604%
1928 239 510 0.0477%
1929 215 559 0.054%
1930 234 512 0.049%
1931 261 401 0.0406%
1932 237 471 0.0477%
1933 235 448 0.0481%
1934 236 447 0.0462%
1935 243 443 0.0456%
1936 251 405 0.042%
1937 254 404 0.041%
1938 253 425 0.0415%
1939 250 428 0.0421%
1940 244 461 0.0434%
1941 263 427 0.0379%
1942 281 423 0.0335%
1943 279 447 0.0342%
1944 264 466 0.0376%
1945 279 422 0.0346%
1946 287 473 0.0321%
1947 279 567 0.034%
1948 296 500 0.0313%
1949 274 562 0.0349%
1950 276 539 0.0335%
1951 291 522 0.0308%
1952 293 536 0.0307%
1953 301 519 0.0293%
1954 292 552 0.0302%
1955 317 506 0.0275%
1956 317 512 0.0271%
1957 336 484 0.0252%
1958 330 508 0.0269%
1959 338 486 0.0256%
1960 364 433 0.0229%
1961 356 455 0.0241%
1962 358 457 0.0249%
1963 362 433 0.0241%
1964 351 463 0.0263%
1965 376 383 0.0234%
1966 359 400 0.0256%
1967 380 349 0.023%
1968 377 385 0.0256%
1969 352 468 0.0304%
1970 335 530 0.0333%
1971 287 690 0.0459%
1972 252 779 0.0572%
1973 235 867 0.0669%
1974 223 923 0.071%
1975 210 994 0.0774%
1976 201 1,070 0.083%
1977 182 1,251 0.0928%
1978 167 1,434 0.1067%
1979 151 1,725 0.1223%
1980 150 1,782 0.1219%
1981 149 1,830 0.1245%
1982 150 1,835 0.1228%
1983 150 1,779 0.1206%
1984 159 1,683 0.1131%
1985 164 1,662 0.1095%
1986 155 1,722 0.1141%
1987 151 1,818 0.1191%
1988 143 1,952 0.1253%
1989 137 2,202 0.1365%
1990 132 2,416 0.1458%
1991 129 2,496 0.1531%
1992 124 2,766 0.1733%
1993 110 3,206 0.2056%
1994 103 3,495 0.2277%
1995 98 3,878 0.2573%
1996 86 4,562 0.3047%
1997 72 5,144 0.3478%
1998 65 5,857 0.3913%
1999 64 6,402 0.4275%
2000 53 7,432 0.4865%
2001 47 8,197 0.544%
2002 48 8,305 0.5542%
2003 48 8,935 0.5873%
2004 46 9,175 0.602%
2005 49 9,120 0.5965%
2006 48 9,673 0.6178%
2007 41 10,258 0.6502%
2008 37 10,018 0.6482%
2009 40 9,551 0.639%
2010 39 9,354 0.6491%
2011 35 9,597 0.6736%
2012 30 10,046 0.705%
2013 29 10,107 0.7099%
2014 31 9,971 0.6844%
2015 31 9,953 0.684%
2016 31 9,723 0.6744%
2017 33 8,796 0.6302%
2018 34 8,417 0.6126%
2019 34 8,148 0.6019%
2020 39 6,949 0.5459%
2021 40 6,899 0.5644%
2022 43 6,565 0.4976%

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Data via SSA.gov.


Names Like Isaac

If you like Isaac, you’ll love these other names like Isaac.


What names are diminutives of Isaac?

A diminutive is a name that’s like Isaac sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Isaac, but shorter.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Ike

Laughter

Hebrew

Ikey

Laughter

Hebrew

Ikie

Laughter

Hebrew

Isa

Laughter; salvation of God; the Lord helps me

Hebrew

Izzie
Izzy

Gift of Isis

Greek

Zac

God remembers

Hebrew

Zach

The Lord recalled

Hebrew

Zack

Laughter; the Lord recalled

Hebrew

Zak

Laughter; the Lord recalled

Hebrew


What names are variants of Isaac?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Isaac.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Isaak

Laughter

Hebrew

Isac

Laughter

Hebrew

Isacco

Laughter

Hebrew

Isak

Laughter

Hebrew

Issac

Laughter

Hebrew

Itzak

Laughter

Hebrew

Itzhak

Laughter

Hebrew

Izaac

Laughter

Hebrew

Izaak

Laughter

Hebrew

Izak

Laughter

Hebrew

Izik

Laughter

Hebrew

Izsak

Laughter

Hebrew

Yitzhak

Laughter

Hebrew


What names sound like Isaac?

If you like how Isaac sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Isaac.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Isaiah

God is salvation

Hebrew

Isaias

God is salvation

Latin

Isidore

Gift of Isis

Greek

Isidro

Gift of Isis

Greek

Isra

Riches

Arabic

Israel

God contends

Hebrew

Izel

Unique

Aztec (Nahuatl)

Zacchaeus

The Lord recalled

Hebrew

Zaccheus

The Lord recalled

Hebrew

Zaccur

Mindful

Hebrew

Zachariah

The Lord recalled

Hebrew

Zachary

God remembers

Hebrew


What names are similar to Isaac?

Find a name that’s like Isaac, but just a little bit different.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Abel

Breath

Hebrew

Abraham

Father of nations

Hebrew

Benjamin

A favorite son

Hebrew

Christopher

Bearing Christ

English

Ezekiel

God will strengthen

Hebrew

Felix

Happy and lucky

Latin

Jonah

Dove

Hebrew

Lucas

From Lucania

Latin

Samuel

Name of God

Hebrew

Thomas

Twin

Greek


Lists With Isaac

Find inspiration in these baby boy name lists featuring the name Isaac.


Siblings of Isaac

Mamas with kids named Isaac also have kids with these names.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Declan

Full of goodness

Irish

Joel

Yahweh is God

Hebrew

Julia

Youthful and downy

Latin

Cassie

“The purified one,” in allusion to the plant cassia whose medicinal properties are laxative, but ultimately from the Greek kathairein, to cleanse.

English

Hanna

He (God) has favored me

Hebrew

Calvin

Hairless one

English

Nathan

He gave

Hebrew

Grace

Gracious one

English

Gabriel

God is my strength

Hebrew

38 Comments

  1. New beginning, new chapter from the son of Abraham.

  2. it mean new chapter

  3. My husband’s middle name is Isaac. Plus it’s a biblical name.

  4. It is a funny story about the name Isaac. My husbands parents were going to name him Isaac but then they told my mother in laws parents and they didn’t like it and said it sounded like a black boys name. So my in laws changed my husbands name to Steven. Ever since he heard this, he wants to name his son Isaac. I was good with the name so we named our first son Isaac. It is also a Biblical name that means laughter. Which I love that too.

  5. Isaac was a promised child from God in the Bible. God is always faithful.

  6. I was really close to the security officer at my job who died suddenly 3 years ago. He was like a father to me. All the parents loved him, the students loved him, my coworkers and I loved him. I said if I ever had a son, I would name him Isaac.
    Fast forward to June of 2022 and I laughed out loud as I read the test and told God he was joking right? I had struggled with fertility for 10 years and had been given a 17% chance of successfully conceiving and carrying a pregnancy on my own. March 8, 2023 my Isaac was born !
    Abraham and Sara laughed in the Bible when God told them about their Isaac, since I did the same I knew this name was meant for him!

  7. It honestly just seemed to fit. Also it was one of the few hubby and I could agree on

  8. I chose the name Isaac after his daddy. I don’t like it because it doesn’t give him his individuality. But I like it that his daddy is proud his son is named after him. Isaac is very alert and aware. So much so he has been diagnosed with People anxiety and is making it hard to chose between getting him out or keeping him in to not stress him any advice would be appreciated. Thank you

  9. We are Greek Orthodox and we liked the name Isaac as both his legal name and Christian name. My husband didn’t want a larger family so I told him that he could name this baby. So he picked Isaac, which I like too.

  10. Love that the name means laughter and I chose the name because I’m constantly laughing.

  11. We wanted a name that was relatively unique, but didn’t feel like a fad. When we first thought about the name it wasn’t at top of the list, but it grew on us as did the opportunity to use the nickname Izzy if we wanted.
    We love that the name Isaac means “the one who laughs,” since humor is a core value in our marriage. And, although neither of us are religious, we liked that the Isaac is a name commonly referenced across many major world religions, and the Bible story of Isaac was that he was born to older parents (we are 39 having our first). So there were lots of nice connections back to us. Plus, all the famous Isaac’s we could think of were awesome – Isaac Newton, Isaac Hayes, Isaac Asimov, Isaac Toups…

    • Isaac is good and bad some times

  12. We chose Isaac because it was biblical, plus it worked well rolling of the tongue with middle and last name.

  13. We chose Isaac because it means joy and laughter. This is my 4th baby and I really do believe names have meanings that corollate with the personality of the child. I wanted my last baby to be a joy and full of laughter.

  14. I like traditional, biblical names. Isaac means laughter. Perfect! He was a surprise blessing, seeing as our other two kids are 12 and 10 years old! And, I turned 40 years old 2 days prior to delivering him. He has brought so much joy to our family and we can’t imagine life without him now. ?

  15. Isaac means son of laughter and he has lived up to his name since the day he was born. And has the dimples to prove it! He has always been our funny child.

  16. Isaac is our 3rd child, my 4th pregnancy. Being pregnant during a pandemic was hard, and it brought about many challenges. We wanted to find out the gender at birth, so picking a name was a little difficult, at first. My husband and I kept hearing the name Isaac over and over. Whether it be at church or in my son’s bedtime devotional. We ended up feeling like Isaac was the perfect name because of its meaning, “he who laughs” or “Laughter”, especially during a hard pregnancy. Isaac is a reminder to us to laugh and have joy but also that God keeps his promises to us and he is our rainbow after the storm.

  17. We had narrowed it down to 2 names an when we saw him we just knew he was an Isaac. It’s unique for our area I’ve only known 2 Isaac’s in my life an it’s a biblical name which was very important to us.

  18. Isaac is a biblical name for Abraham’s son of promise. The name means laughter. Isaac is our rainbow baby. Born to my husband and I later in life (we are both 40 yrs old). We choose this name feeling that he is a gift from God to us and in hopes that he will know God and walk with him just as his name-sake did. Our Isaac was born at 38 wks and my labor was fast and furious. I had no Braxton hicks or cramping until after my water broke. I skipped right over early/pre-labor and felt like I jumped right into transition. 2 hrs after cramping started, I arrived at the birth center and was dilated to an 8-9. Next thing I knew, the midwife told me I was fully dilated and ready to push at which point my contractions slowed down. After 4 hrs of pushing, Isaac was born completely healthy and strong. I praise God that he answered all my prayers! We didn’t need any interventions or medication and we did not need to go to the hospital for any reason.

  19. I pick this name to remember in my brother to who had died of cancer at the age of 21 also this name is in the bible as well so it makes a very good name for my son

  20. I find the name beautiful aswell as it’s meaning. Isaac means “he will laugh”. His father is a very funny man so it fits well I think. Also we live in Iceland and the Icelandic spelling and pronunciation is ?sak, so it’s a name which works in both our countries.

  21. We loved the meaning of laughter! Also his grandmas were both okay with it, haha.

  22. Classic and common but not too common.

  23. To us, Isaac was a classic name that sound warm and friendly. Easy to say and will not easily revert to any short nicknames.

  24. I chose the name Isaac because if its biblical significance. Abraham was ordered by God to give up his son to God and as a sacrifice, all the while trusting in God fully. Our children belong to God and if we trust Him, He will take care of them and bless them always.

  25. I chose the name Isaac Because I have a Jeramiah and Elijah as well and I love biblical names.

  26. I chose Isaac because I have a Je’Ramiah and a Eli’Jah and l love biblical names

  27. I had primary fertility for about 6years before I later got pregnant and name him Isaac which means laughter.

  28. I love the name isaac i think is a apecial name for many reason……..

  29. My father name?

  30. Names are prophetic. Isaac is a biblical name that means laughter. When Isaac cries, I remind him that laughter is his portion

  31. We chose the name Isaac because, in Hebrew, it means laughter. We love knowing that his name reminds us of why we fell in love with each other- we were always laughing. Also, as Christians, we love the story of Isaac and how he was the son of promise.

  32. I’ve loved the name Isaac for a boy since I first became pregnant with a boy. It took 3 boys for my husband to agree to it though, so our third is named Isaac. I love that it’s a Biblical name and it is become more common nowadays. I do have trouble with the spelling, though and often have to correct myself when I accidentally spell it as Issac! Between myself, my husband and our 3 older kids, we have a great list of nicknames we love to call him by. The one that has stuck the best is Zeeky, or Izeeky. Others pet names include Zoo-cookie, Zucanchi, Zuchinni, Zeeks, Zu-Zu and Isaacoo. It’s a fun and easy name to play with!

  33. We love that this name means laughter! Our little man is a source of pure joy for us, and his laugh is contagious!

  34. We are a bilingual family and so it as very important to me that the name had a nice ring to it both in english and in spanish. At first this was one of the main requirements, however the meaning of it was also super important. A name that sounded powerful but didn’t have a heavy meaning to it. Isaac means laughter in hebrew and once we found this out it was chosen.

  35. We thought we were having a girl and one day we said “wouldn’t it be funny if it’s actually a boy?!…. what’s the biblical name for laughter?” After recalling that it was Isaac I remembered my mom (who passed) wanted to use that name if I was a boy. She loved the name Isaac and also Benjamin. So my son is named I her honor as Isaac Benjamin

    • What a beautiful story!

  36. Our son was a surprise and under the circumstances it brought us great laughter to know that we were expecting. And he’s brought us laughter ever since. I love that is it a biblical name but not often used.


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