Given name & surname · also Latin, Late Latin
Jacob
“heel grabber”·“supplanter”
Jacob has a vivid story behind its familiar sound. Its traditional meanings, “heel grabber” and “supplanter,” trace back to the biblical twins Jacob and Esau.
Original Hebrewיעקב
Meaning & origin
What it means
Traditional interpretations include “heel grabber” and “supplanter”—someone who takes another’s place. Both come from the biblical narrative, while the name’s original linguistic derivation remains debated.
Where it comes from
Jacob is the English and Dutch form of the Hebrew Yaakov. James belongs to the same older name family, despite looking quite different in English.
How it developed
The link with Hebrew akev, “heel,” comes from Genesis 25:26: Jacob is born holding his older twin Esau’s heel. In Genesis 27:36, Esau connects the name with being supplanted after Jacob gains his birthright and their father’s blessing. These episodes explain the traditional meanings; they do not settle how the name first arose.
The story
In Genesis, Jacob is the son of Isaac and Rebecca and the father of twelve sons associated with the twelve tribes of Israel. His name has a long history in Jewish and Christian communities. The related name James developed through a different Late Latin form, Iacomus, eventually becoming distinct from Jacob in English.
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Jacob appears in Genesis 25:26, Genesis 32:28, Matthew 1:2 and 2 other passages.
- Genesis 25:26
- Genesis 32:28
- Matthew 1:2
- Matthew 1:15
- Luke 3:23
From biblical name research
Jacob through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 990,532
- 988,227 boys · 2,305 girls
- Most popular year
- 1998
- 36,091 babies
- 2025
- 6,152
- #43 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −40%
- Cooling
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 6,152 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 43 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 40.0% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 36,031 in 1998. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (744). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 805,730 as a first name in 2020; 25,360 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Jacob’s family of names
In English usage, Jacob has a diminutive in Jack. In English usage, Jacob shares an earlier linguistic root with James. In Danish usage, Jacob has a conventional equivalent in the Spanish form Jaime.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Jacob has relatives in 101 languages. Lines run from its Hebrew roots to each of them.
Nicknames & forms 40
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Jacknickname · English
- Jaydiminutive · English
- Jakediminutive · English
- Kobediminutive · Dutch
- Jakobvariant · French, Dutch
- Jacobyvariant
- Jaycobvariant · English
- Jacquesvariant · French
Show 32 moreShow fewer
- Jacobovariant · Spanish
- Jacobivariant · German
- Jjshort form · English
- Jimdiminutive · Dutch, English
- Jakubvariant · Upper Sorbian, Czech
- Jacobevariant
- Jaapdiminutive · Dutch
- Yankelvariant · German
- Jacobusvariant · German, dum
- Jaykobvariant
- Jacobblikely variant
- Jaccoblikely variant
- Yaacovvariant · English
- Jackediminutive · Swedish
- Jacobsvariant · German
- Jakovvariant · Serbo-Croatian
- Jacobeyvariant
- Jacobievariant
- Jacovariant · Dutch, Afrikaans
- Kubapet form · Polish
- Coppinpet form · English
- Jeppediminutive · Danish
- Ibvariant · Danish
- Yankelevariant · German
- Jakyvariant · German
- Jakobsvariant
- Jachymvariant
- Jakobusvariant · Dutch, German
- Koosjediminutive · Dutch
- Koppelpet form
- Coospet form
- Cobuspet form
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 167
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- IacomusLatin
- Iacobusroot · Latin
- יעקבroot · Hebrew
- יַעֲקֹבHebrew
- Jamesdoublet · English
- SantiagoSpanish, war
- DiegoSpanish
- Rebeccarelated form
Show 52 moreShow fewer
- Jaimealso known as · Spanish, Portuguese
- JimmyEnglish
- Yaakovrelated form · English
- TiagoPortuguese
- Yakovcognate
- Kobirelated form
- Cobyfeminine form
- GiacomoItalian
- Yaqubrelated form · Azerbaijani
- Jaymedoublet · osp, roa-opt
- Diagoequivalent
- Diogoequivalent
- Yagodoublet · Spanish, osp
- Yakubdoublet · Turkish, Malay
- Iagodoublet · English, Welsh
- Jemrelated form
- Yacobequivalent
- Jaquesequivalent
- Jacobson“son of” surname · English
- JacopoItalian
- Hakobborrowing · ilo, English
- Jagodoublet · English, Cornish
- Jacobafeminine form
- Giacobbecognate · Italian
- JakabHungarian
- SeumasScottish Gaelic
- YakobEwe
- Jockelequivalent
- Yakauequivalent
- Jaccoequivalent
- Iacopoequivalent
- യഅ്ഖൂബ്equivalent
- Ꙗковеequivalent
- يەئقۇبequivalent
- Жакыпequivalent
- იაკობequivalent
- Яъқубequivalent
- Ġakbuequivalent
- Якаўequivalent
- याकोबequivalent
- 𑆪𑆃𑆑𑆷𑆧equivalent
- ယအ္ကူဗ်equivalent
- Xhakequivalent
- Jokūbasequivalent
- Jeamsequivalent
- Jasqueequivalent
- Jakopequivalent
- Zhakequivalent
- Kübaequivalent
- Jacòbequivalent
- Jakupequivalent
- Copsonpatronymic derivation via short form · English
And 107 more.
See also 4
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Jacob
- Jacob Zuma4th President of South Africa (2009–2018)born 1942
- Camille PissarroDanish-French painter (1830-1903)
- George GershwinAmerican composer and pianist (1898–1937)
- Jake GyllenhaalAmerican actor (born 1980)
- Jacob GrimmGerman philologist, linguist, jurist and mythologist (1785–1863)
- Jacob BernoulliSwiss mathematician (1655-1705)1654–1705
- Jack KirbyAmerican comic book artist (1917–1994)
- Jack RubyAmerican nightclub operator who killed American presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald1911–1967
- Jacob van RuisdaelDutch painter and engraver (1628-1682)
Characters named Jacob: Jacob Black (Twilight), Jacob (fictional character of the TV series Lost), Jacob Marley (Dickens' A Christmas Carol).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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