Isaac

Of all the meanings a name could carry, Isaac may have landed the happiest. From the Hebrew, it means he will laugh, no lofty virtue, no solemn promise, just the simple, delighted sound of a child in fits of giggles. As blessings to give a newborn go, a lifetime of laughter is hard to beat.

It's a name that's quietly everywhere without ever feeling overexposed. Isaac turns up twelfth in France, thirty-first in Mexico City and thirty-second in Australia, and clusters neatly through the thirties in Canada, England & Wales and the United States, before easing off a little in Brazil and Argentina. That's the mark of a name that's genuinely well-liked rather than merely fashionable, steady, widespread, and in no danger of becoming a passing fad. It's the sort of ranking that tends to hold its nerve for decades rather than flaring up and fizzling out.

Part of the appeal is how effortlessly it balances old and new. Isaac is unmistakably ancient, yet it sounds crisp and contemporary on a modern child, the sort of name that feels like it's always been in style because, more or less, it has. It sits comfortably among its biblical cousins on a shortlist, too; pair it with Samuel, Caleb, Hannah, Miriam or Aaron and the whole set rings true together. And for those who like options, it shortens nicely: Ike is the sturdy, old-school version with a bit of swagger, while Zac is the breezier, more modern clip.

In clever company

What company it keeps, as well. The name has been worn by some of the sharpest minds going: Isaac Newton, the English mathematician and physicist; Isaac Asimov, the American writer and biochemist who imagined the future by the shelf-load; and Isaac Bashevis Singer, the Polish-American writer. Scientists and storytellers alike, for a name that means laughter, it has attracted a strikingly thoughtful crowd.

Maybe that's the secret charm of Isaac: it's clever and warm at once, a name that can hold a great idea and a good joke in the same breath. It works on a curious toddler, a daydreaming teenager and a grown adult with something to say, without ever feeling like the wrong size. It grows up as gracefully as it starts out.

Which, of course, does nothing whatsoever to make the decision simpler. That's the fond agony of naming a baby, you can find a name that means laughter, comes trailing geniuses, and still catch yourself fretting over it at midnight. He will laugh, the name promises. The parents, meanwhile, will deliberate, happily, endlessly, right up to the day the little one arrives to settle it.