Izaac
A Hebrew name meaning "he will laugh" or "laughter".
Name Census estimates that about 2,767 living Americans carry the first name Izaac. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Izaac today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Izaac births was 2009 (151 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Izaac. 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 Izaac with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Izaac is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.8K
~ 1 in 123,872 Americans
Peak year
2009
151 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,678
Tracked since 1977
Census
Izaac in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,072 people with the first name Izaac, which placed it at #7,381 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
#7,381
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,072 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
50.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Izaac
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Izaac is Hispanic at 50.4%. The next largest groups are White (36.8%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Izaac 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 Izaac at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino50.4% · 1,045
- White36.8% · 762
- Two or more races5.5% · 113
- Black or African American4.3% · 89
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 48
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 15
Popularity
Izaac: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Izaac from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,120 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Izaac 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 Izaac during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Izaacs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Izaac, while Kansas, Idaho, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 69 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Izaac
The name Izaac is a variant spelling of the Hebrew name Isaac, which has its origins in Biblical times. The name Isaac comes from the Hebrew word "yitskhak", meaning "he laughs" or "he rejoices". In the Book of Genesis, Isaac was the son of Abraham and Sarah, and his name was chosen because his parents laughed with joy upon learning of his impending birth.
The name Izaac first gained prominence in the Middle Ages, particularly in regions with significant Jewish populations. It was a common name among Sephardic Jews in Spain and Portugal, as well as Ashkenazi Jews in Central and Eastern Europe. The variant spelling "Izaac" likely arose due to regional linguistic influences or scribal errors in transcribing the name from Hebrew to various European languages.
One of the earliest known historical figures to bear the name Izaac was Izaac ben Judah Abravanel (1437-1508), a prominent Jewish philosopher, commentator, and statesman who served as a finance minister in Portugal and Spain. In the 16th century, Izaac Luria (1534-1572), also known as the "Ari", was a renowned Jewish mystic and leader of the Kabbalistic school in Safed, Palestine.
In the 17th century, Izaac Walton (1593-1683) was an English writer best known for his book "The Compleat Angler", a classic work on the subject of fishing. Around the same time, Izaac Ysraels (1616-1648) was a Dutch Baroque painter known for his portraits and genre scenes.
In the 18th century, Izaac Cordozo (1777-1868) was a prominent Jewish leader and philanthropist who served as the chief rabbi of the British Empire from 1819 to 1868. During the 19th century, Izaac Mauricio Cohen (1808-1895) was a successful businessman and financier in London, known for his philanthropic efforts within the Jewish community.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Izaac throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence across various cultures and time periods, particularly within the Jewish tradition.
People
Izaac + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Izaac 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
Izaac: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Izaac?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,767 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Izaac 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 123,872 US residents.
Is Izaac a common name?
We classify Izaac as "Rare". It ranks above 94.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,799 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Izaac most popular?
The single biggest year for Izaac was 2009, when 151 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Izaac is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Izaac in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,072 people with the name Izaac, or 0.69 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,381 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 Izaac 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 Izaac?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Izaac appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,077 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 Izaac?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Izaac is Hispanic at 50.4%. The next largest groups are White (36.8%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Izaac most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Izaac in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.4% (1,045 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 Izaac in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Izaac a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Izaac 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 Izaac still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Izaac 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 Izaac 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 share the name Izaac?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.