Isak
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will laugh".
Name Census estimates that about 1,054 living Americans carry the first name Isak. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Isak today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Isak births was 2004 (57 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Isak. 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 Isak with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 325,194 Americans
Peak year
2004
57 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,109
Tracked since 1979
Census
Isak in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,312 people with the first name Isak, which placed it at #10,245 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
#10,245
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,312 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Isak
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isak is White at 66.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.6%). 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 Isak 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 Isak at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.2% · 868
- Hispanic or Latino19.6% · 257
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.6% · 87
- Two or more races4.0% · 52
- Black or African American3.3% · 43
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 5
Popularity
Isak: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Isak from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 433 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
Isak 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 Isak during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Isaks live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, Minnesota recorded the most babies named Isak, while Indiana, Washington, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 33 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Isak
The name Isak has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture. It is a variant spelling of the biblical name Isaac, which is derived from the Hebrew word "yitshaq" meaning "he laughs" or "he rejoices." The name first appeared in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible, where Isaac was the son of Abraham and Sarah, and was an important figure in the Abrahamic religions.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Isak can be found in the Hebrew Bible, which dates back to around the 6th century BCE. In the Bible, Isaac was the son of Abraham and Sarah, and was an important figure in the Abrahamic religions. He was also the father of Jacob and Esau, and is considered a patriarch in both Judaism and Christianity.
Over the centuries, the name Isak has been used by many notable figures throughout history. One of the most famous was Isak Abravanel (1437-1508), a Jewish philosopher, biblical commentator, and statesman who served as a finance minister in Portugal and Spain. Another notable bearer of the name was Isak Muddiman (1594-1672), an English academic and theologian who served as the President of St John's College, Oxford.
In the field of science, Isak 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. He is best known for his work on the laws of motion, universal gravitation, and the development of calculus.
In the realm of literature, Isak Dinesen (1885-1962) was the pen name of Karen Blixen, a Danish author who wrote numerous works of fiction, including the famous memoir "Out of Africa." Her stories often explored themes of love, loss, and the human condition.
Another notable bearer of the name was Isak Fried (1876-1941), a Polish-born Jewish architect who was instrumental in the development of the Art Nouveau style in Warsaw. His most famous works include the Sosnowski Palace and the Klosinski Palace, both of which are considered architectural masterpieces.
These are just a few examples of the many notable figures throughout history who have borne the name Isak, a name that has its roots in the Hebrew language and culture, and has been used across various cultures and time periods.
People
Isak + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Isak 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
Isak: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Isak?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,054 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Isak 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 325,194 US residents.
Is Isak a common name?
We classify Isak as "Rare". It ranks above 90.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,068 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Isak most popular?
The single biggest year for Isak was 2004, when 57 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Isak 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 Isak in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,312 people with the name Isak, or 0.43 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,245 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 Isak 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 Isak?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Isak appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,319 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Isak?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isak is White at 66.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.6%). 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 Isak most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Isak in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.2% (868 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 Isak in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Isak a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Isak 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 Isak still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Isak 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 Isak 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 Isak?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.