Meaning and history
Isaac comes from the Hebrew name יִצְחָק (Yitsḥaq), meaning “he will laugh, he will rejoice,” from צָחַק (tsaḥaq), “to laugh.” The Old Testament links the name to Abraham laughing when God said his aged wife Sarah would bear Isaac, and to Sarah laughing when she heard the same prophecy; it also tells how God later tested Abraham by commanding him to sacrifice Isaac, with an angel stopping him at the last moment. Isaac became the father of Esau and Jacob with his wife Rebecca. As an English Christian name, it was occasionally used in the Middle Ages, though it was more common among Jews, and it became more widespread after the Protestant Reformation. Notable bearers include Isaac Newton (1643–1727) and Isaac Asimov (1920–1992).
20062006: 9,685 births, rank #48
2007: 10,274 births, rank #41
2008: 10,030 births, rank #37
2009: 9,569 births, rank #40
2010: 9,371 births, rank #39
20112011: 9,607 births, rank #35
2012: 10,065 births, rank #30
2013: 10,134 births, rank #28
2014: 9,999 births, rank #31
2015: 9,988 births, rank #31
20162016: 9,782 births, rank #31
2017: 8,894 births, rank #32
2018: 8,503 births, rank #34
2019: 8,231 births, rank #34
2020: 7,155 births, rank #39
20212021: 6,987 births, rank #40
2022: 6,752 births, rank #41
2023: 6,621 births, rank #42
2024: 6,529 births, rank #41
20252025: 5,953 births, rank #47
Isaac has made a dramatic comeback. After first appearing in the US records in 1880, it fell to #377 by 1967, before climbing to #47 in 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 2007, with 10,274 births.