Jacob
Top 1000
About Jacob
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.
Pronounced JAY-kub.
As of October 2026, Jacob ranked #43 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #1 in 2002, Nameberry popularity #245.
Editor's take: The name Jacob is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "supplanter".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #4 | 16,916 | 8,806.4 |
| 2015 | #4 | 15,999 | 8,347 |
| 2016 | #7 | 14,554 | 7,669.1 |
| 2017 | #9 | 13,265 | 7,166.6 |
| 2018 | #13 | 11,891 | 6,547.3 |
| 2019 | #12 | 10,786 | 6,011.5 |
| 2020 | #15 | 9,306 | 5,391.4 |
| 2021 | #24 | 8,481 | 4,847.7 |
| 2022 | #32 | 7,658 | 4,386 |
| 2023 | #35 | 7,005 | 4,095.1 |
| 2024 | #41 | 6,496 | 3,770.4 |
| 2025 | #43 | 6,152 | 3,601.7 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Jacob.
- Nathan
- Zachary
- Luke
- Andrew
- Joshua
- Matthew
- Daniel
- Adam
- Michael
- Ethan
- Samuel
- Aaron
- Nicholas
- Christopher
- David
- Isaac
- Caleb
- Anthony
- Benjamin
- Christian
Jacob on lists
Famous Jacobs
- 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 Elordi
Australian actor
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"
- Jacob Hopkins
character from the animated show "The Owl House"