Given name & surname
Jakov
“heel grabber”·“supplanter”
Jakov 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.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Jakov 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.
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Jakov 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 Serbo-Croatian usage, Jakov developed from Ἰάκωβος. Jakov 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.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2010. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Jakov 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.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Jakov through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 22
- 22 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2010
- 6 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 2024. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 160 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Jakov’s family of names
In Serbo-Croatian usage, Jakov has a diminutive in JAKO. In Serbo-Croatian usage, Jakov developed from the Ancient Greek form Ἰάκωβος. Jakov has a related form in Jacob.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Jakov has relatives in 7 languages.
8 related names in 7 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 4
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 13
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Jakov
- Jakov MilatovićPresident of Montenegro since 2023born 1986
- Jakov FakSlovenian biathlete, Croatian biathleteborn 1987
- Jakov GotovacCroatian composer (1895-1982)
- Jakov GojunCroatian handball playerborn 1986
- Jakov IgnjatovićSerbian writer and politician living in Hungary (1822-1889)
- Jakov NenadovićSerbian politician (1765-1836)
- Jakov BlaževićCroatian lawyer and politician (1912–1996)
- Jakov MedićCroatian footballerborn 1998
- Jakov SirotkovićCroatian economist1922–2002
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Jakov, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Tahan
“encampment”
>99% boys
Abiezer
“my father is help” · “father of help”
>99% boys
Nethaniah
“Yah has given”
>99% boys
Kaleb
“resembling an aggressive dog”
>99% boys
Gianni
“God is gracious”
80% boys · 20% girls
Jakare
>99% boys
Jaxzon
>99% boys
Jamarris
>99% boys