Jacob

Hebrew

"supplanter"

Jacob Origin and Meaning

The name Jacob is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "supplanter".

Biblical Jacob ceded his Number 1 spot to biblical Noah, in 2013, after holding first place on the list of baby boy names from 1999 to 2012, given a huge boost by the Twilight phenomenon.

Jacob has widespread appeal to a range of parents, with an image of honesty and warmth. Another plus is the friendly nickname Jake — also given on its own to thousands of boys every year — which shares the cool-yet-earthy appeal of equally stylish cousins Max and Sam.

Jacob comes from the Latin name Iacobus, which was ultimately derived from the Hebrew name Ya’aqov. In the Old Testament, Jacob was one of the most important patriarchs of the tribes of Israel. He was the youngest son of Isaac and Rebecca and the twin brother of Esau, as well as the husband of both Leah and Rachel. The 12 tribes of Israel evolved from his 12 sons.

Jacob is still among the most popular boy names starting with J, along with James, Jack, and Jackson, and is Number 1 for boys among Gen Z names.

The downside is that Jacob is at this point way overused. Jacoby is one trendy variation. Jakob, meanwhile, is an alternate spelling used by the Dutch, Scandinavians and Germans. Some interesting international versions include the Scottish Hamish, the Cornish Jago, and the Dutch Jaap.

Jacob Rank in US Top 1000

# 36 in the US

Jacob Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 146 on Nameberry

Jacob Popularity

• 36 US 2023
• 146 Nameberry 2025
• 12 Canada 2023
• 180 Future 2028
• 24 England 2023
• 38 Scotland 2023
• 60 Ireland 2023
• 52 Australia 2023
• 56 New Zealand 2024
• 19 Germany 2017
• 85 Netherlands 2015
• 240 Mexico 2021
• 64 Sweden 2022

20 Names Similar to Jacob

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Jacob.

• Joshua
• Daniel
• Caleb
• Benjamin
• Isaac
• Ethan
• Joseph
• Zachary
• Noah
• Lucas
• Luke
• Samuel
• James
• Matthew
• Nathan
• William
• Andrew
• Alexander
• David
• Elijah

Famous People Named Jacob

• Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma President of South Africa
• Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm German philologist, jurist, and mythologist.
• Jacob Benjamin "Jake" Gyllenhaal American actor.
• Jacob Edward "Jake" Peavy American baseball pitcher.
• Jacob Anthony deGrom American baseball pitcher.
• Jacob Mark "Jake" Pitts American guitarist.
• Jacob Vargas Mexican,American actor.
• Jacob Dolson Cox American politician; 28th Governor of Ohio.
• Jacob Artist American actor and singer.
• Jacob Daniel Handy American actor.
• Jacob Tremblay Canadian actor.
• Jacob Seth Lofland American actor.
• Jacob Hubner German entomologist.
• Jacob Isaacksz van Ruisdael Dutch landscape painter.
• Jacob Whitesides American singer
• Jacob Tyler "J.T." Realmuto American baseball player.
• Jacob Loucks Devers U.S. Army general
• Jacob Warner birth name of Jack Leonard "J. L." Warner, Canadian,American film executive
• Jacob August Riis Danish,American journalist and activist
• Jacob Bernoulli Swiss mathematician
• Jacob Pavlovich Adler (born Yankev P. Adler) Ukrainian,American Yiddish actor
• Jacob Edward "Jake" Hoffman American actor
• Jacob "Jake" Dalton American artistic gymnast
• (Rolf) Jacob Sartorius American pop singer
• Jacob Batalon Filipino,American actor
• Jacob Emerson "Jake" Fishman (b. 2008) son of actress Courtney Thorne,Smith
• Jacob Bryan Fisher (b. 2019) son of American singer,songwriter Carrie Underwood and American former professional ice hockey player Mike Fisher
• Ryan Paevey (born Ryan Jacob Paevey Vlieger), American model and actor
• Jacob Erwin Wetterling (b. 1978) 11 year old American boy who was abducted and murdered in 1989

Jacob in Pop Culture

• Jacob Marley character from Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"
• Jacob Black werewolf character in the "Twilight" series
• Jacob character from TV's "Lost"
• Jacob David "Jake" Harper character on TV's "Two and a Half Men"
• Jacob Jankowski main character in book/movie "Water for Elephants"
• Jacob Portman main character in the "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" series by Ransom Riggs
• Jacob "Jake" Pentecost character in "Pacific Rim"
• Jacob Carter character on TV's "Stargate: SG,1"
• Jacob Gallagher character on British soap "Emmerdale"
• Jacob "Jake" Moon character on British soap "EastEnders"
• Jacob "Jake" Sisko character on TV's "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine"
• Jacob Daniel Johnson character in the Nightmare on Elm Street series
• Jacobitism 18th century political movement to restore the Roman Catholic Stuart King James II of England to the throne
• Jacob "Jake" Barnes character in Ernest Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises"
• Jacob a character in "The Forest of Hands and Teeth" by Carrie Ryan
• Jacob Kowalski character in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling
• Jacob Palmer character in film "Crazy, Stupid, Love"