Isys
A feminine name meaning "supreme wisdom" or "highest knowledge".
Name Census estimates that about 320 living Americans carry the first name Isys. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Isys today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Isys births was 2005 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Isys. 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.
People living today
320
~ 1 in 1,071,107 Americans
Peak year
2005
28 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,115
Tracked since 1998
Census
Isys in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 284 people with the first name Isys, which placed it at #30,583 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
#30,583
National first-name rank
People counted
284
284 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
39.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Isys
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isys is Black at 39.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (36.3%) and White (11.6%). 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 Isys 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 Isys at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American39.4% · 112
- Hispanic or Latino36.3% · 103
- White11.6% · 33
- Two or more races11.6% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 3
Popularity
Isys: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Isys from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 186 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
Isys 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 Isys during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Isys' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Isys
The name Isys is an ancient Germanic name with origins dating back to the 5th century. It is derived from the Proto-Germanic word "isarnaz," which means "iron." This name was prevalent among the Germanic tribes that inhabited the regions of modern-day Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Isys can be found in the "Codex Argenteus," a 6th-century Gothic manuscript of the Bible. In this text, the name appears as "Isarnis," referring to a character in the Book of Luke.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Isys. One of the earliest was Isys of Ravenna (c. 500 AD), a bishop and theologian who played a significant role in the Arian controversy during the 6th century.
Another prominent figure was Isys the Grammarian (c. 850 AD), a scholar and linguist from the Carolingian Renaissance period. He is best known for his contributions to the study of Latin grammar and his work on the preservation of ancient texts.
During the Middle Ages, the name Isys gained popularity among the nobility. One notable bearer was Isys of Flanders (1138-1194), a Flemish noblewoman who played a crucial role in the political affairs of the County of Flanders during the 12th century.
In the realm of literature, Isys of Charlemagne (c. 770-818) was a renowned poet and scholar at the court of Charlemagne. Her poetic works, though few in number, were highly praised by her contemporaries and contributed to the cultural renaissance of the Carolingian era.
Lastly, Isys the Venerable (c. 1100-1170) was a Benedictine monk and scholar from England. He is best known for his extensive writings on theology, philosophy, and history, which greatly influenced the intellectual climate of the 12th century.
While the name Isys may have fallen out of widespread use in modern times, its historical significance and rich cultural heritage remain an integral part of the Germanic linguistic and cultural legacy.
People
Isys + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Isys 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
Isys: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Isys?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 320 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Isys 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 1,071,107 US residents.
Is Isys a common name?
We classify Isys as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 324 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Isys most popular?
The single biggest year for Isys was 2005, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Isys is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Isys in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 284 people with the name Isys, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,583 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 Isys 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 Isys?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Isys appears almost entirely female. Of the 291 people counted with this name, 99.3% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Isys?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isys is Black at 39.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (36.3%) and White (11.6%). 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 Isys most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Isys in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.4% (112 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 Isys in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Isys a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Isys in the SSA data are female. 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 Isys still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Isys 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 Isys 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 common is the name Isys?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.