Explore the Family Name Isaac
The meaning of Isaac
Jewish, English, Welsh, and French: from the Biblical Hebrew personal name Yishaq ‘he laughs’. This was the name of the son of Abraham (Genesis 21:3) by his wife Sarah. The traditional explanation of the name is that Abraham and Sarah laughed with joy at the birth of a son to them in their old age, but a more plausible explanation is that the name originally meant ‘may God laugh’, i.e. ‘smile on him’. Like Abraham, this name has always been immensely popular among Jews, but was also widely used in medieval Europe among Christians. Hence it is the surname of many gentile families as well as Jews. In England and Wales it was one of the Old Testament names that were particularly popular among Nonconformists in the 17th–19th centuries, which accounts for its frequency as a Welsh surname. (Welsh surnames were generally formed much later than English ones.) In Eastern Europe the personal name in its various vernacular forms was popular in Orthodox (Russian, Ukrainian, and Bulgarian), Catholic (Polish), and Protestant (Czech) Churches. It was borne by a 5th-century father of the Armenian Church and by a Spanish martyr executed by the Moorish rulers of Cordoba in 851 AD on account of his tireless polemics against Islam. In North America, the English form of the surname has absorbed cognates from other languages, e.g. Assyrian/Chaldean Iskhaq or Ishak, Hungarian Izsák, and Slovenian Izak, and also their patronymics, e.g. Serbian Isakov. The name Isaac is also found among Christians in southern India, but since South Indians traditionally do not have hereditary surnames, the southern Indian name was in most cases registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US. Compare Issac.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Isaac in the United States?
The popularity of the surname "Isaac" saw a notable increase between 2000 and 2010, according to data from the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2000, Isaac was ranked as the 2,039th most popular surname, but by 2010, its popularity had climbed to 1,898th place. This represented a change of approximately 6.92 percent. Additionally, there was an increase in the actual count of individuals with the surname Isaac during this period. The count went up from 16,312 people in 2000 to 18,903 in 2010, marking an upward shift of 15.88 percent.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #2,039 | #1,898 | 6.92% |
| Count | 16,312 | 18,903 | 15.88% |
| Proportion per 100k | 6.05 | 6.41 | 5.95% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Isaac
In terms of ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that there were some changes in the ethnic identities associated with the surname Isaac between 2000 and 2010. The proportion of Asian/Pacific Islanders with this surname rose by 21.15 percent and those identifying with two or more races increased by 7.41 percent. Conversely, there was a decline of 7.65 percent in the distribution of White individuals bearing the Isaac surname. Hispanic representation saw a significant rise of 32.36 percent while the Black population experienced a slight increase of 0.45 percent. On the other hand, there was a drop of 4.30 percent among American Indian and Alaskan Natives with this surname.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 43.81% | 40.46% | -7.65% |
| Black | 39.91% | 40.09% | 0.45% |
| Hispanic | 7.2% | 9.53% | 32.36% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 3.64% | 4.41% | 21.15% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 3.02% | 2.89% | -4.3% |
| Two or More Races | 2.43% | 2.61% | 7.41% |
Isaac ancestry composition
23andMe computes an ancestry breakdown for each customer. People may have ancestry from just one population or they may have ancestry from several populations. The most commonly-observed ancestry found in people with the surname Isaac is British & Irish, which comprises 34.1% of all ancestry found in people with the surname. The next two most common ancestries are French & German (13.6%) and Nigerian (6.2%). Additional ancestries include Ashkenazi Jewish, Levantine, Ghanaian, Liberian & Sierra Leonean, Iranian, Caucasian & Mesopotamian, and Spanish & Portuguese.
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| ANCESTRY BREAKDOWN | COMPOSITION |
|---|---|
| British & Irish | 34.1% |
| French & German | 13.6% |
| Nigerian | 6.2% |
| Other | 46.0% |
Possible origins of the surname Isaac
Your DNA provides clues about where your recent ancestors may have lived. Having many distant relatives in the same location suggests that you may all share common ancestry there. Locations with many distant relatives can also be places where people have migrated recently, such as large cities. If a large number of individuals who share your surname have distant relatives in a specific area, it could indicate a connection between your surname and that location, stemming from either recent ancestral ties or migration.
Based on 23andMe data, people with last name Isaac have recent ancestry locations in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Ireland.
| RECENT ANCESTRY Location | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Greater London, United Kingdom | 51.00% |
| Greater Manchester, United Kingdom | 51.00% |
| Merseyside, United Kingdom | 50.70% |
| Glasgow City, United Kingdom | 50.10% |
| West Midlands, United Kingdom | 50.10% |
What Isaac haplogroups can tell you
Haplogroups are genetic population groups that share a common ancestor on either your paternal or maternal line. These paternal and maternal haplogroups shed light on your genetic ancestry and help tell the story of your family.
The top paternal haplogroup of people with the surname Isaac is R-M167, which is predominantly found among people with European ancestry. Haplogroup R-M167 is descended from haplogroup R-M343. Other common haplogroups include R-CTS241 and E-M5021, which are predominantly found among people with European and European ancestry. Other surnames with similar common haplogroups are: Cox, Hodge, Poole, Robinson, David, Newman, Hacker, Richards, Hall, Brown.
The most common maternal haplogroups of people with Isaac surname are: M, H1, H. These most commonly trace back to individuals of European ancestry.
Paternal Haplogroup Origins R-M343Your maternal lineage may be linked to Marie Antoinette
Because it is so dominant in the general European population, haplogroup H also appears quite frequently in the continent's royal houses. Marie Antoinette, an Austrian Hapsburg who married into the French royal family, inherited the haplogroup from her maternal ancestors. So did Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, whose recorded genealogy traces his female line to Bavaria. Scientists also discovered that famed 16th century astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus traced his maternal lineages to haplogroup H.
What do people with the surname Isaac have in common?
Spoiler alert: it's complicated. People with the same last name are usually no more genetically similar than a randomly sampled group of people from the same population. That said, people with the same surname are more likely to have similar ancestries than randomly sampled individuals. The reason is the tendency of people with similar cultural or geographical backgrounds to preferentially mate with one another. That's why people who share a surname may be more likely to share traits and tendencies in common than people within the general population. Check out the percentages below to see the prevalences of tastes, habits, and traits of people with your surname compared with prevalences among 23andMe users.
Preferences
Chocolate Ice Cream
Prefers chocolate flavored ice cream over other flavors.
"Isaac" Surname 36.4%
23andMe Users 41.3%
Traits
Misophonia
When sounds made by others, like the sound of chewing or yawning, provoke strong emotional reactions in an individual.
"Isaac" Surname 27.6%
23andMe Users 27.9%
Habits
Sugary Drink
Drinks one or more sugary drinks per day.
"Isaac" Surname 20.2%
23andMe Users 21.1%
Wellness
Migraine
A severe headache characterized by intense pain, sensitivity to light and sound, and often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.
"Isaac" Surname 16.2%
23andMe Users 16.4%
Are health conditions linked to the last name Isaac?
The short answer is that, if there is an association between surname and health, it's usually more about your ancestry than your name. Individuals with a given surname are no more genetically similar than the general population but often have similar ancestries. The populations of people associated with those shared ancestries often have sets of genetic variations, also known as alleles, in common. Some of those alleles are associated with a greater likelihood of developing certain diseases.
Disease variant frequency by ancestry
Disease allele frequencies in populations associated with the surname Isaac are shown below. Important Note: not everyone with a disease allele will develop these health condition