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Gender: Male Meaning of Jacob: "supplanter" Origin of Jacob: Hebrew Jacob's Popularity in 2018: #13

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, having been given a huge boost by the Twilight phenomenon. Jacob is still the most popular of the boy names starting with J

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 appeal of equally stylish cousins Max and Sam.

The downside is that Jacob is at this point way overused. 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.

Jacoby is a rapidly rising 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.

16 names similar to Jacob

These 16 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Jacob. If you didn't find an alternative name that you like better than Jacob, try our name generator. It allows you to go beyond the similarities of a name, which can provide a lot of inspiration!

Find other names based on Jacob using our baby name generator.

Lists containing Jacob

Jacob in Blog Posts

Popularity

Rank in US: #13
- this week

Famous People Named Jacob

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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.

Pop Culture References for the name Jacob

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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

Nicknames & Variations for Jacob

Jake, Jacoby, Jakob, Jack, Cobb, Cobey, Jaicob, Jaco, Jakie, Jackie, Jachob, Jocob, Jacolbi, Jacobi, Jacobe, Jackub,

Comments

Leah_ Says:

2017-11-17T02:11:28

There are roughly 110 boys in my grade at school. Seven of them have the first name Jacob. I can understand why: it is a very handsome name. The popularity (in my region at least) is a little overwhelming.

Alaina Says:

2017-05-23T21:43:30

I actually like Jake more than Jacob. I like nn more sometimes. But this name is still very cute.

LV51sfan91 Says:

2016-10-16T05:02:29

I love this name as a whole ONLY! No nickname Jake! I love this on a boy but a grown man I'm not so sure...

Jacob Hymel Says:

2016-03-19T20:45:16

This is my name. I was born in 1995, when the name was just starting to get popular. I don't like that it's so common now. It just seems really trite. That being said, I've gotten kind of complacent with my name. I still like it, and I wouldn't change it.

Essa Says:

2015-12-08T14:30:03

I love Jacob, I am slightly put off by it's popularity but when I think about it, I only know one Jacob and he's the same age as me so maybe it's not that common where I'm from. I dislike the nickname Jake though, I was to use a nickname, I'd call him Coby.

SimoneKadele Says:

2015-04-11T22:42:46

No nickname is inevitable. I know at least three Jacobs who don't go by any nickname (and only 2 Jakes)!

missLis Says:

2015-03-14T17:44:46

my cousin is named this

lovepurple90 Says:

2015-03-09T17:51:34

My son's middle name. Very common though.

indiefendi2 Says:

2015-01-15T04:38:59

My mom hates this name because of that story of Jacob tricking his dad into giving them his inheritance. I think that's very petty of her but I don't care for the name either. I think Jake is an annoying nickname. I prefer Caleb.

Addie88 Says:

2014-11-20T00:10:33

This is a good strong name, although I don't particularly like its inevitable nickname Jake.

Leah3456 Says:

2014-11-15T15:21:12

Classic boy name. I can understand the popularity.