Isaacs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A family name of English and Jewish origin, derived from the given name Isaac and carried by many people
2. A surname shared by numerous individuals, originating as a patronymic from the personal name Isaac
3. A common family name that descends from the Hebrew personal name Isaac, used by people across several countries

Etymology: Isaacs is simply the plural of "Isaac," a personal name whose meaning is preserved in the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew "Yiṣḥāq" means "he laughs" or "he will laugh," and Genesis explains the name by the laughter of Isaac's mother Sarah, who laughed when she was told in her old age that she would bear a son. The name passed into Greek as "Isaák," then into Latin as "Isaac," and reached English through Middle English "Ysaac." Its masculine ending reflects its use as a boy's name, even though the Hebrew verb itself does not depend on gender in that way. As a family name, "Isaacs" is a patronymic in the usual English sense: it means "son of Isaac" or a household descended from someone called Isaac, and it is widely found among Jewish families as well as others.