Given name & surname
Jeppe
“an easygoing man”·“heel grabber”·“supplanter”
Jeppe is a variant of Jep. One American interpretation is “an easygoing man.” In Danish use, Jeppe is a diminutive 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
Jeppe is a variant of Jep. One American interpretation is “an easygoing man.” In Danish use, Jeppe is a diminutive 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
Jeppe is a variant of Jep. An origin associated with Jep is American. In Danish use, Jeppe is a diminutive 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 Danish usage, Jeppe is a diminutive of Jacob. In Danish use, Jeppe is a diminutive 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
In Danish use, Jeppe is a diminutive 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
Jeppe’s family of names
In Danish usage, Jeppe is a diminutive of Jacob. Jeppe has a surname derivative in JEPPESEN. In Danish usage, Jeppe has a conventional equivalent in the German form Jakob.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Jeppe
- Jeppe AakjærDanish poet and novelist (1866–1930)
- Jeppe KofodDanish Social Democrat, politician, and former ministerborn 1974
- Jeppe HøjbjergDanish association football playerborn 1995
- Jeppe KjærDanish soccer player (born 2004)
- Jeppe Bruus ChristensenDanish politicianborn 1978
- Jeppe AndersenDanish footballer (born 1992)
- Jeppe CurthDanish footballerborn 1984
- Jeppe OkkelsDanish association football playerborn 1999
- Jeppe HeinDanish sculptor based in Berlin (born 1974)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Jeppe, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Beppe
“God will add”
>99% boys
Seppe
“God will add”
>99% boys
Peppe
“God will add”
64% boys · 36% girls
Jetheth
>99% boys
Jérémie
“the Lord will raise”
>99% boys
Jebus
“trodden underfoot” · “he will trample down”
>99% boys
Jeram
“one who is exalted by the Lord”
85% boys · 15% girls
Jerram
“one who is exalted by the Lord” · “appointed by God”
>99% boys