Jacob

Where Jacob comes from

From Middle English Iacob, from Late Latin Iācōbus, from Ancient Greek Ἰάκωβος (Iákōbos), from Biblical Hebrew יַעֲקֹב (yaʿăqōḇ, literally “May He Heel”), from the third-person singular masculine imperfective form of the Semitic verb "to heel" (with various meanings), in turn from עָקֵב (ʿāqēḇ, “heel of the foot”). Doublet of James, Yaakov, and Yakub.
— Wiktionary's entry for Jacob
  • Hebrew
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1785
    Jacob Grimm born
    German philologist, linguist, jurist and mythologist
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #39 among boys — 404 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1942
    Jacob Zuma born
    4th President of South Africa
  4. 1999
    Peak, #1
    35,371 babies named Jacob — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1999
    The comeback
    Back to #1 after sinking to #369 in 1962.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Hebrew.
  • One of the sons of Isaac and Rebecca, and twin brother of Esau; father of the Israelites (Jews and Samaritans) by 12 sons by 4 consorts, most famously Judah and Joseph who fathered Manasseh.
  • The fifth son of Lehi and one of the younger brothers of Nephi, author of one of the books in the Book of Mormon.
Namesakes
  • Jacob Zuma · 4th President of South Africa, born 1942
  • Jacob Grimm · German philologist, linguist, jurist and mythologist, 1785–1863
  • Jacob Burckhardt · Swiss historian, 1818–1897
  • Jacob van Ruisdael · Dutch painter and engraver, 1628–1682
  • Jacob Elordi · Australian actor, born 1997

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.