Yitzchok
Masculine · Hebrew roots · “he will laugh”
This is the Hebrew name of the patriarch of Genesis, written the way Yiddish-speaking Ashkenazi Jews have said it for centuries — with that rounded final syllable, YITS-khok, rather than the Israeli Yitzchak. The same three consonants have been read aloud in synagogues for some three thousand years, and reached English as Isaac by way of Greek and Latin. Today the spelling with -ok keeps a direct line to Eastern European Jewish speech.
How old is the name Yitzchok?
Yitzchok first appears in US birth records in 1952 — 73 years ago. The typical Yitzchok alive today was born around 2011, making them about 14 years old. About 5,300 people named Yitzchok are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Yitzchok most popular?
Yitzchok peaked in 2025, reaching #910 nationally. Today it ranks #910, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Where it comes from
From Yitzchaq (Hebrew) to Yitzchok
The story of Yitzchok
The name is Hebrew, יִצְחָק, borne in the Book of Genesis by the son of Abraham and Sarah and the father of Jacob. Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible rendered it Isaak, Latin made it Isaac, and from there it spread through Christian Europe and, as Ishaq, through the Arabic-speaking world. Jewish communities meanwhile kept the Hebrew name in continuous use, and Ashkenazi pronunciation shifted the stressed vowel so that Yitzchak became Yitzchok in Yiddish speech. That is the form written here — a transliteration that records not just the name but the accent it was spoken in.
Meaning
he will laugh
In Genesis the name is tied to laughter: both Abraham and Sarah laugh when told, in old age, that they will have a son, and the son is called Yitzchak.
How the name formed
- YitzchaqHebrew
- IsaakGreek
- IsaacLatin, English
- YitzchokAshkenazi/Yiddish
Related forms: Yitzchak · Isaac · Ishaq · Isaak · Isaac · Itzik
Pronouncing Yitzchok
YITS-khok
The ch is the guttural sound of Bach or challah, not the ch of church. Stress falls on the first syllable in Ashkenazi speech; the Israeli form Yitzchak stresses the second.
Nicknames for Yitzchok
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1952
- Most boys named
- 2025261 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #910reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +7.9%261 in 2025, from 242
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Yitzchok in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Yitzchak in Hebrew (Israeli transliteration) — spelling variant
- Isaac in English — same name
- Ishaq in Arabic — same name
- Isaak in Greek — same name
- Isaac in Spanish — same name
- Itzik in Yiddish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, New Jersey.
Yitzchoks among us
people named Yitzchok are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 6,544 born in 2025 was named Yitzchok
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Tye test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Yitzchok's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Tye climbed just as high around 1968, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Tye's path sketches the road Yitzchok is walking now.
Yitzchok sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Yitzchok is headed
Yitzchok should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Yitzchok beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Yitzchok in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and pleasant — laughter, from the Genesis account — with no competing readings to explain.
- One of the oldest continuously used names in the world, read aloud in Hebrew for roughly three millennia without a break.
- Ready-made short forms already in wide use: Yitzy, Itzik, Itche, and Izzy for English-speaking settings.
- Its English cousin Isaac is instantly recognizable everywhere, which gives the name an easy bridge outside Jewish communities.
- The guttural ch defeats most English speakers, who will land on YITS-chok or Yits-KOK. Many families accept a simplified pronunciation outside the community and keep the true one at home.
- Spelling is genuinely unsettled across transliterations — Yitzchok, Yitzchak, Yitzchack, Itzchak — so expect to spell it out and to see it written several ways on forms and lists.
- This spelling in particular signals Ashkenazi Orthodox usage and is concentrated in the New York and New Jersey area. Inside that world it is entirely familiar; elsewhere a child may be the only one anyone has met.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Yitzchok to the vote.
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What they receive
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Yitzchok
Masculine · Hebrew roots · #910 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Yitzchoks are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,300 people named Yitzchok are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Yitzchok in 2025?
- Yitzchok ranks #910 among US boy names in 2025, with 261 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Yitzchok?
- About 1 in every 6,544 US boys born in 2025 was named Yitzchok — 261 in all.
- Will my child share the name Yitzchok with classmates?
- Yitzchok will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Yitzchok
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vihaan#910 · Koah#912 · Beck#913 · Ezrah#913 · Rey#906 · Scottie#906 · Jerry#906 · Axton#906
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Yitzchok? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Yitzchok and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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