Boy · Hebrew
Jacob
Say it: JAY-kub
Meaning
From Hebrew Ya'aqov. Genesis links it to aqev 'heel' (Jacob held his twin's heel), and 'supplanter' is the traditional gloss; many scholars read it as a shortened 'may God protect'.
Likelythe main view, with some doubt.
The top US boys' name from 1999 to 2012.
Its wave through time
Most used in the 1990s
In the United States
- 954,005 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1998, about 1 in 53 boys
- 9,205 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The Biblical WorldAbout 1200 BC to AD 100
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- The Colonial Americas1500 to 1800
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
HebrewEarly ChristianEnglishAmericanFrenchSpanishItalianPortugueseGermanPolishDutchRussian
The family of the name
Other spellings: Jakob
| French | Jacob |
|---|---|
| Spanish | Jacobo |
| Italian | Giacobbe |
| Portuguese | Jacó |
| German | Jakob |
| Polish | Jakub |
| Russian | Yakov |
| Hebrew | Yaakov |
Famous bearers
- Jacob, patriarch also called Israel
- Jacob Grimm, German philologist
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament
- Puritan church and town records of England and New England
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.