Yitzchak יִצְחָק
English version of the name: Isaac
Root Meaning #1 will laugh (Rashi)
Root Meaning #2 will delight (R. Schneur Zalman Of Liadi)
Root Meaning #3 a composite of the words יצא חוק which means “there went forth law and provisions” referring a people will be born from Yitzchak, his Jewish descendants, who will transmit the Divine law of Torah to the world and thereby sustain the world. (Midrash Rabah, Eitz Yosef)
Unpacking The Name:
Yitzchak was born on the first day of Passover and became the first child to be circumcised at the proper time, on the eighth day after birth. In many ways, Isaac was the first person to be born Jewish. At his circumcision, Abraham named him Yitzchak (Isaac), which means “laughter” in Hebrew.
The Torah in Genesis 21:6 recounts what his mother said at his birth: "And Sarah said, "God has made joy for me;">In the hebrew (notice the underlined Yitzchak words) וַתֹּ֣אמר שְר֔ה צְ֕ק ע֥֥שָׂ לִ֖י ֱלִָ֑ים קָּלָּשֹּׁמֵ֖עַ יִֽצֲחַק-לֽי :
What was the great laughter and joy connected to his birth? In addition to being the long awaited only child born to both his parents in their old age, the midrash tells us that on the day of his birth, many miracles occurred, with barren women conceiving, the sick being healed and many prayers being answered. It was a day of global joy and laughter. (Genesis Rabbah 53:8.)
The joy and laughter reflected in Yitzchak’s name is a unique high level of happiness. It refers to the great joy, delight to the point of outright laughter that comes after overcoming hardship and transforming it to revealed goodness. This is why the name is in the futuristic tense (“will laugh”) which alludes to the highest joy and laughter that will come by the ultimate world redemption through Mashiach.
How this name influenced the original Yitzchak life mission:
While the name connotes joy and laughter, it is interesting to reconcile that idea with the basic info we know about Yitzchak’s personality, which seems at first glance contradictory to joy and laughter.
In Kabbalah and Midrash, Yitzchak embodied the idea of gevurah, the kabbalistic notion of discipline or restraint. The character trait associated with gevurah is yira’ah, awe. Yitzchak served G‑d with a sense of awe and wonderment. He constantly felt that he was standing in the presence of the Almighty. This caused him to act with restraint and modesty.
In simple english: he was more inward, an introvert perhaps, who was constantly refining himself with introspection.
While his father Abraham was an outgoing, traveling activist, Yitzchak was more reserved. He stayed in the land of Canaan all his life, working on himself and others in a quieter fashion.
So why is his name about joy and laughter, which are very outward personality traits?
This paradox can be explained as follows: The joy that derives from self-fulfillment will always be a a finite joy (anchored to one’s starting reality). Even the largest self has its limits, which will inevitably frustrate the most joyous self-expansion. Understandably it is the refined selfless soul (as Yitzchak was), whose joy derives not from who and what it is but from who and what it serves, that experiences true, infinite joy.
Sources:
Book of Genesis Tauber 21:6 Commentary
Likutei Sichos 30 toldos 1
https://www.chabad.org/therebbe/article_cdo/aid/4805045/jewish/Toldos-Becoming-More-than-Oneself.htm