Name day
Isaac: Name Day and Patron Saint
Isaac keeps the name day on 30 May, or 12 June on the Old Calendar: the feast of St Isaac of Dalmatia.
By Greek custom the name day is the Sunday between 11 and 17 December: the Holy Forefathers.
- Patron saint
- St Isaac of Dalmatia
- New Calendar
- 30 May
- Old Calendar
- 12 June
- Next name day
- 30 May 2027 (New Calendar) · 12 June 2027 (Old Calendar)
- Greek custom
- the Sunday between 11 and 17 December: the Holy Forefathers
- In the feast calendar
- The feasts of May · The feasts of June
The patron saint: St Isaac of Dalmatia
Kept on 30 May, or 12 June on the Old Calendar · Venerable Isaac the Confessor of the Dalmatian monastery
St Isaac was a fourth-century monk who received the monastic tonsure as a young man and lived in the desert in prayer and ascetic labour, where God gave him the gift of prophecy. When the emperor Valens, a follower of the Arian heresy, closed and destroyed the churches of the Orthodox, Isaac left his solitude and came to Constantinople to comfort the faithful and stand against the heretics. As Valens rode out with his army against the Goths, the monk called to him: “Emperor, reopen the churches of the Orthodox, and then the Lord will aid you!” Three times he gave the same warning. Valens had him thrown into a ravine of thorns and mud, but Isaac came out alive and foretold that the emperor would be defeated and burned. So it happened in 378. Released and honoured as a prophet, Isaac counselled the new emperor Theodosius the Great, who returned the churches to the Orthodox, and he took part in the Second Ecumenical Council in 381. He longed for the desert, but was asked to stay and protect the city by his prayers. A monastery was built for him in Constantinople, where he guided monks, helped lay people and cared for the poor; it later took the name of his disciple St Dalmatus. He reposed in peace in 383. The Church keeps his memory on 30 May (12 June on the Old Calendar), and the faithful ask his prayers for courage in confessing the true faith.
What the faithful pray for
- courage to confess the Orthodox faith before the powerful
- steadfastness when churches and believers are persecuted
- the protection of cities and their people
- the poor and suffering whom he cared for
- monks and all who seek a life of prayer
Other saints named Isaac
the Holy Forefathers
Kept on the Sunday between 11 and 17 December · Sunday of the Holy Forefathers
On the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers the Church remembers the righteous men and women of the Old Testament, the ancestors of Christ according to the flesh and all who waited in faith for His coming, from Adam onward. Among them are Adam and Eve, Abel, Seth, Enoch and Noah, and the patriarch Abraham, whom St Paul calls the father of the faithful. Many of them lived among idols and cruelty, yet they kept faith in the one God and hoped for the Messiah they would not see in this life. The Church likens them to candles of God burning in the darkness. The feast falls on the Sunday between 11 and 17 December (on the Old Calendar, the Sunday between 24 and 30 December), the second Sunday before Christmas, in the middle of the Nativity Fast. Its Gospel is the parable of the great supper, in which the poor, the lame and the blind are brought in to the feast after the first guests make excuses. The hymns of the day recall the three youths who would not bow to an idol and were kept unharmed in the fiery furnace, a sign of Christ born of the Virgin. The troparion says that God justified the forefathers by faith, and it asks Christ to save our souls through their prayers. Those who bear the names of the patriarchs and their wives keep this Sunday as their name day, and the faithful ask the forefathers to pray for them as they prepare their hearts to receive Christ.
What the faithful pray for
- faith that holds firm while we wait on God
- hope in God’s promises
- a heart made ready for the Nativity of Christ
- courage to refuse every idol
- families, parents and those who come after us
St Isaac the Syrian
Kept on 28 January, or 10 February on the Old Calendar · Venerable Isaac the Syrian
The bishop of Nineveh whose homilies on prayer and mercy are beloved by monks and laymen alike.
St Isaac of Cyprus
Kept on 21 September, or 4 October on the Old Calendar
Venerable Isaac II of Optina
Kept on 26 December, or 8 January on the Old Calendar
Isaac in other languages
| Language | The name | Short forms |
|---|---|---|
| English | Isaac, Isaak, Izaak, Yitzhak | Ike, Zac |
| Greek | Ισαάκ, Ισαάκιος, Isaak, Isaakios | |
| Russian | Исаак, Исаакий, Isaak, Isaakiy, Isaaky | |
| Serbian | Исак, Isak | |
| Romanian | Isac | |
| Georgian | Isak | |
| Arabic | إسحاق, Ishaq, Isaac |
An icon for Isaac
We don't carry an icon of St Isaac of Dalmatia yet. Ask for it below, and we will write to you when it is in.
Closest to it
Folding diptychSt John the Silent & Guardian Angel
Another monastic saint$99$69
Folding diptychSt Herman of Alaska & Guardian Angel
Another monastic saint$99$69
Folding diptychChrist (Zvenigorod Saviour) & Vladimir Mother of God
Christ and the Mother of God keep every Christian home$99$69
For every name: the Guardian Angel, given at baptism
Have it consecrated by our priest before it reaches you: Consecration, $49.
A name-day gift for Isaac
Name-Day Gift Set $213$149
A patron saint's folding diptych chosen by first name, a stainless steel crucifix and a prayer rope, in a gift box with a card giving the saint's life and feast day.
The St Nicholas the Wonderworker & Guardian Angel Folding Diptych is chosen, for the Guardian Angel every Orthodox Christian receives at baptism, and the name is filled in.
Questions
When is Isaac’s name day?
Isaac keeps the name day on 30 May on the New Calendar and on 12 June on the Old Calendar, the feast of St Isaac of Dalmatia. By Greek custom it is kept on the Sunday between 11 and 17 December: the Holy Forefathers.
Who is the patron saint of Isaac?
St Isaac of Dalmatia. St Isaac was a fourth-century monk who received the monastic tonsure as a young man and lived in the desert in prayer and ascetic labour, where God gave him the gift of prophecy.
How is Isaac written in other languages?
Greek: Ισαάκ (Isaak), Russian: Исаак (Isaak), Serbian: Исак (Isak), Romanian: Isac, Georgian: Isak and Arabic: إسحاق (Ishaq). Every form of the name keeps the same saint.
What is a good name-day gift for Isaac?
We don’t carry an icon of St Isaac of Dalmatia yet, and you can ask for one on this page. Every Orthodox Christian has a Guardian Angel from baptism, so the Name-Day Gift Set ($149) with the Guardian Angel diptych is always fitting.
More about name days
- Name Days Explained: What They Are, How Families Keep Them, and Gifts
A name day is the feast of the saint whose name you carry. Here is how to find yours on either calendar, how Greek and Russian families keep it, and what to give.
- Orthodox Patron Saint: How to Find Yours (by Name, Day or Choice)
Your Orthodox patron saint is the saint whose name you were given at baptism. Here is how to find yours by name, by the day of your birth or baptism, or by choice, and how to keep the name day.
- Find another name
Sources
- OCA: Venerable Isaac, Founder of the Dalmatos Monastery at Constantinople
- OCA: Venerable Isaac the Confessor, Founder of the Dalmatian Monastery at Constantinople (22 March)
- OCA: Accepting the Lord's Invitation (Sunday of the Forefathers)
- OCA: Troparia and kontakia, Sunday of the Forefathers
- OrthoChristian: Who Are the Holy Forefathers, and Why Do We Commemorate Them Before the Nativity of Christ?
- Patriarchate of Antioch: The Sunday of the Holy Forefathers
- Orthodox Church in America, Lives of the Saints
- eortologio.net, Greek name-day calendar (Εορτολόγιο)
- azbyka.ru, Месяцеслов (the Russian Church's calendar of saints by name)