Jacob is a common male

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...

and a less well-known

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

. It is a

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

, derived from Late Latin ''Iacobus'', from Greek ''Iakobos'', from Hebrew (''Yaʿaqōḇ''), the name of the Hebrew patriarch, Jacob son of Isaac and

Rebecca Rebecca, ; Syriac: , ) from the Hebrew (lit., 'connection'), from Semitic root , 'to tie, couple or join', 'to secure', or 'to snare') () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical ...

. The name comes either from the Hebrew root ''ʿqb'' meaning "to follow, to be behind" but also "to supplant, circumvent, assail, overreach", or from the word for "heel", ''ʿaqeb''. It can also be taken to mean "may God protect." In the narrative of

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

, it refers to the circumstances of Jacob's birth when he held on to the heel of his older twin brother Esau (Genesis 25:26). The name is etymologized (in a direct speech by the character Esau) in Genesis 27:36, adding the significance of Jacob having "supplanted" his elder brother by buying his birthright. In a Christian context, Jacob – ''James'' in English form – is the name for several people in the New Testament: (1) the apostle James, son of Zebedee, (2) another apostle,

James, son of Alphaeus James, son of Alphaeus (Greek: Ἰάκωβος, ''Iakōbos''; Aramaic: ܝܥܩܘܒ ܒܪ ܚܠܦܝ; he, יעקב בן חלפי ''Ya'akov ben Halfai''; cop, ⲓⲁⲕⲱⲃⲟⲥ ⲛⲧⲉ ⲁⲗⲫⲉⲟⲥ; ) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jes ...

, and (3)

James the brother of Jesus James the Just, or a variation of James, brother of the Lord ( la, Iacobus from he, יעקב, and grc-gre, Ἰάκωβος, , can also be Anglicized as "Jacob"), was "a brother of Jesus", according to the New Testament. He was an early lead ...

(James the Just), who led the original Nazarene Community in Jerusalem. There are several Jacobs in the genealogy of Jesus.

Modern usage

From 1999 through 2012, Jacob was the most popular baby name for boys in the United States.U.S. Social Security Administration – Popular Baby Names
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Variants

* Afrikaans – Jakob, Jakobus, Jacobus *

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

– Jakob, Jakov, Jakub, Jakup, Gjokë, Gjoka, Zhak * Arabic – Yaʿqūb, Yakub (يعقوب); see also Jacob in Islam * Aragonese – Chacobo, Chaime * Armenian – Յակոբ (classical Armenian and Western Armenian), Հակոբ (

Eastern Armenian Eastern Armenian ( ''arevelahayeren'') is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Western Armenian. The two standards form a pluricentric language. Eastern Armenian is spoken in Armenia, Artsakh, Russia, as we ...

) (Hakob, Hagop) *

Azerbaijani Azerbaijani may refer to: * Something of, or related to Azerbaijan * Azerbaijanis * Azerbaijani language See also * Azerbaijan (disambiguation) * Azeri (disambiguation) * Azerbaijani cuisine * Culture of Azerbaijan The culture of Azerbaijan ...

– Yaqub, Yaqubun, Ceykob * Basque – Jakobi, Jagoba *

Belarusian Belarusian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belarus * Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent * A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus * Belarusian language * Belarusian culture * Belarusian cuisine * Byelor ...

– Якуб, Якаў (Jakub, Jakaŭ) *

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

– জ্যাকব (Jyākob), ইয়াকুব (Iyakub) * Bosnian – Jakub (Jakup) *

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

– Jakob, Jakez *

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

– Яков (Yakov) *

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

– Jaume, Dídac * Cebuano – Hakob *

Chichewa Chewa (also known as Nyanja, ) is a Bantu language spoken in much of Southern, Southeast and East Africa, namely the countries of Malawi , where it is an official language, and Mozambique and Zambia. The noun class prefix ''chi-'' is used for la ...

– Yakobo *

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

– 雅各 (Yǎgè) * Cornish – Jago, Jammes, Jamma * Corsican – Ghjacumu * Croatian – Jakov, Jakob, Jakša * Czech – Jakub *

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

– Jakob, Jep, Jeppe, Ib * Dutch – Jaak, Jaap, Jakob, Jacobus, Jacco, Jaco, Sjaak, Kobus * English – Jack, Jake, Jakob, Jaycob; see also

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...

– Jakobo *

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

– Jaak,

Jaagup Jaagup is an Estonian masculine given name, variant of Jacob and James. People named Jaagup include: * (1893–1986), military commander * (1900–1965), architect * Jaagup Loosalu (1898–1996), publisher, journalist, agricultural scientist ...

, Jakob * Ethiopia –

Yacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Jac ...

, Yacob, Yakob * Faroese –

Jákup Jákup is a Faroese masculine given name, a cognate of the names Jacob and James. People with the name Jákup include: *Jákup á Borg (born 1979), Faroese footballer *Jákup Dahl (1878-1944), Faroese Provost and Bible translator *Jákup Pauli G ...

* Fijian – Jekope, Kope * Finnish – Jaakob, Jaakoppi, Jaakko *

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

– Jacques, Jayme, Jaume, Jacqueline (fem.) * Frisian – Japik * Galician – Xacobe, Santiago, Iago, Xaime *

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

– იაკობ (Iakob), კობა (Koba) *

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

– Jakob * Greek – Iákovos (Ιάκωβος), Iakóv (Ιακώβ), Yángos (Γιάγκος) *

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

– જેકબ (Jēkaba) *

Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; ht, kreyòl ayisyen, links=no, ; french: créole haïtien, links=no, ), commonly referred to as simply ''Creole'', or ''Kreyòl'' in the Creole language, is a French-based creole language spoken by 10–12million people wor ...

– Jakòb * Hausa – Yakubu * Hawaiian – Iakopo * Hebrew –Ya'akov (יעקב), Koby, Ya'akova (female) * Hindi – याकूब (Yākūba) * Hmong – Yakhauj * Hungarian – Jakab, Jákob * Icelandic – Jakob * Igbo – Jekọb *

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

– Yakobus (used mainly by Christians), Yakub (used mainly by Muslims) * Irish – Séamas, Séamus, Sésamo, Sesame, Shéamais, Iacób, Siacus * Italian – Giacomo, Iacopo, Jacopo, Giacobbe * Japanese – Yakobu (ヤコブ) * Javanese – Yakub * Kannada – ಜಾಕೋಬ್ (Jākōb) *

Kazakh Kazakh, Qazaq or Kazakhstani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Kazakhstan *Kazakhs, an ethnic group *Kazakh language *The Kazakh Khanate * Kazakh cuisine * Qazakh Rayon, Azerbaijan *Qazax, Azerbaijan *Kazakh Uyezd, administrative dis ...

– Жақып (Zhaqyp, Zhakip) * Khmer – លោកយ៉ាកុប (lok yeakob) * Korean – Yagop (야곱) *

Kyrgyz Kyrgyz, Kirghiz or Kyrgyzstani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Kyrgyzstan *Kyrgyz people *Kyrgyz national games *Kyrgyz language *Kyrgyz culture *Kyrgyz cuisine *Yenisei Kirghiz *The Fuyü Gïrgïs language in Northeastern China ...

– Жакып (Dzhakyp) * Lao – ຢາໂຄບ (ya okhb) * Latin – Iacobus * Latvian –

Jēkabs Jēkabs is a Latvian masculine given name; it translates in English Jacob and James and may refer to: * Jēkabs Alksnis (1897–1938), Latvian Soviet commander of Red Army Air Forces from 1931–1937 * Jēkabs Bīne (1895-1955), Latvian painter, ...

Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

–

Jokūbas Jokūbas is a Lithuanian masculine given name. It is a cognate of the given names Jacob and James and may refer to: *Edvardas Jokūbas Daukša (1836–1890), Lithuanian poet, translator, participant of 1863 Uprising *Jokūbas Gintvainis (born 1994) ...

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...

– Јаков * Malayalam – ചാക്കോ (Chacko), യാക്കോബ് (Yakob) *

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Malte ...

– Ġakbu, Ġakobb *

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

– Hakopa *

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

– याकोब (Yākōba) *

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

– Akob, Yakub, Yaakub * Mongolian – Иаков (Iakov) * Montenegrin – Jakov, Jakša *

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

– yarkote sai *

Nepali Nepali or Nepalese may refer to : Concerning Nepal * Anything of, from, or related to Nepal * Nepali people, citizens of Nepal * Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language found in Nepal, the current official national language and a language spoken ...

– याकूबले (Yākūbalē) * Norwegian – Jakob *

Pampangan The Kapampangan people ( pam, Taung Kapampangan), Pampangueños or Pampangos, are the sixth largest ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines, numbering about 2,784,526 in 2010. They live mainly in the provinces of Pampanga, Bataan and Tarlac, as ...

– Hakub * Persian – Yaghub (یعقوب) *

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

– Jakub, Kuba, Jakubina and Żaklina * Portuguese – Jacó, Iago, Tiago, Thiago, Diogo, Jácomo, Jaime *

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

– ਯਾਕੂਬ ਨੇ (Yākūba nē) *

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

– Iacob, Iacov * Romansh: Giacun, Giachen * Russian – Иаков (Iakov) (archaic O.T. form), Яков (Yakov, Iakov), Яша (Yasha, Jascha) (diminutive) * Samoan – Iakopo * Scots – Hamish * Scottish Gaelic – Seumas *

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

– Jakov (Јаков), Jakša (Јакша) * Sesotho – Jakobo * Sinhala – ජාකොබ් (Jakob), යාකොබ් (Yakob) * Slovak – Jakub (short form: Kubo) *

Slovenian Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Sloven ...

– Jakob a:kop Jaka * Somali – Yacquub * Sorbian – Jakub * Spanish – Jacobo, Jaime, Yago, Diego, Santiago, Iago, Tiago *

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture Swahili culture is the culture of ...

– Yakobo *

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

– Jakob * Sylheti – য়াকুব (Yakub) * Syriac – ܝܥܩܘܒ (Yaʿqub), also (Yaqo, Yaqko) *

Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Tagal ...

– Hakob *

Tajik Tajik, Tadjik, Tadzhik or Tajikistani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Tajikistan * Tajiks, an ethnic group in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan * Tajik language, the official language of Tajikistan * Tajik (surname) * Tajik cu ...

– Яъқуб (Ja'quʙ) *

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

– யாக்கோபு (Yākkōpu) *

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

– యాకోబు (Yākôbu) *

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

– เจคอบ Ce khxb, pronounced "Ja-khawb" * Tigrinya – ያእቆብ, ያዕቆብ (Ya‘ik’obi) *

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

–

Yakup Yakup is a Turkish given name for males and is a cognate of Jacob and James. People named Yakup include: * Yakup Ağa (fl. 1462), Ottoman cavalry knight * Yakup Bugun (born 1987), Turkish footballer * Yakup Gör (born 1988), Turkish sport wrestle ...

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

– Yakiv (Яків) * Urdu – یعقوب (Ya'kub) * Uzbek – Yoqub, Yakob, Ya'qub * Vietnamese – Giacôbê, Giacóp *

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

– Siam, Jac, Iago * Xitsonga – Yakobo *

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

– Yankev, Yankl, Yankel, Yankele *

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

– Jakọbù * Zulu – Jakobe

People with the name

Patriarch Jacob of Alexandria Jacob ( el, Ιάκωβος) served as Greek Patriarch of Alexandria between 1861 and 1865. References * 19th-century Greek Patriarchs of Alexandria People from Patmos 1803 births 1865 deaths {{EasternOrthodoxy-bishop-stub ...

(1803–1865), Greek Patriarch of Alexandria 1861–1865 *

Saint Jakov Jakov ( sr, Јаков) was the Serbian Archbishop from 1286 to 1292. Information on Jakov is scarce; it is known that he renovated and founded churches, and that he likely transferred the episcopal see from Žiča to the Peć metochion. He had s ...

, Archbishop of Serbs 1286–1292 * Saint

Jacob of Alaska Saint Jacob Netsvetov (Russian language, Russian: Яков (Иаков) Егорович Нецветов), Enlightener of Alaska, was a native of the Aleutian Islands who became a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church and conti ...

, missionary of the Orthodox Church * Saint Jacob of Nisibis, Bishop of Nisibis * Jacob (Book of Mormon prophet) * *

References

{{Reflist Given names Masculine given names Hebrew masculine given names English masculine given names Irish masculine given names Scottish masculine given names Welsh masculine given names German masculine given names Dutch masculine given names Swedish masculine given names Danish masculine given names Modern names of Hebrew origin