Given name & surname
Jakobus
“heel grabber”·“supplanter”·“he who supplants”
In Dutch use, Jakobus is a variant of Jacob. 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. In German use, Jakobus is a variant of Yankel. In Hebrew use, Yankel carries the interpretation “he who supplants.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
In Dutch use, Jakobus is a variant of Jacob. 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. In German use, Jakobus is a variant of Yankel. In Hebrew use, Yankel carries the interpretation “he who supplants.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
In Dutch use, Jakobus is a variant of Jacob. 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.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
In Dutch use, Jakobus is a variant of Jacob. The shared background comes through Jacob: 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.
Explained through its name family
The story
In Dutch use, Jakobus is a variant of Jacob. The history of Jacob gives this family its wider 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.
Explained through its name family
Jakobus’s family of names
In German usage, Jakobus has a short form in Jakob. In German usage, Jakobus has a conventional equivalent in the English form James. In Dutch usage, Jakobus has a related form in Jacob.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Jakobus has relatives in 42 languages.
42 related names in 42 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 10
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Jacobvariant · Dutch, English
- Jakobvariant · Dutch, German
- Jacobivariant · German
- Yankelvariant · German
- Jacobusvariant · Afrikaans, German
- Jacobsvariant · German
- Kosiediminutive · Afrikaans
- Koosdiminutive · Afrikaans
Show 2 moreShow fewer
Across languages 33
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- JamesEnglish
- SantiagoTagalog, Spanish
- TiagoPortuguese
- JacquesFrench
- GiacomoItalian
- JakubCzech, Slovak
- IagoWelsh
- JakabHungarian
Show 25 moreShow fewer
- SeumasScottish Gaelic
- ЯківUkrainian
- JakupTurkish
- ЈаковSerbian
- ЯковRussian
- IacobRomanian
- JokūbasLithuanian
- JēkabsLatvian
- IacobusLatin
- 야곱Korean
- JaumeCatalan
- ヤコブJapanese
- SéamusIrish
- SéamasIrish
- Iakobusio
- ΙάκοβοςGreek
- იაკობიGeorgian
- XaimeGalician
- JaakkoFinnish
- JaakEstonian
- JakoboEsperanto
- 亚科布Chinese
- JakezBreton
- JakesBasque
- ՀակոբArmenian
People named Jakobus
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Jakobus, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Jakobs
“heel grabber” · “supplanter”
—
Jakoba
“she who supplants”
90% boys · 10% girls
Jackoba
“she who supplants”
—
Jebus
“trodden underfoot” · “he will trample down”
>99% boys
Agabus
“grasshopper”
>99% boys
Jabesh
“sorrowful” · “one who is delivered in pain”
>99% boys
Jacopone
“he will/shall heel”
>99% boys
Jackobina
“she who supplants”
—