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 ...

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 etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical ef ...

of James, derived from Late Latin ''Iacobus'', from Greek ''Iakobos'', from

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

(''Yaʿaqōḇ''), the name of the Hebrew patriarch,

Jacob 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. ...

son of

Isaac Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was ...

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 Esau ''Ēsaû''; la, Hesau, Esau; ar, عِيسَوْ ''‘Īsaw''; meaning "hairy"Easton, M. ''Illustrated Bible Dictionary'', (, , 2006, p. 236 or "rough".Mandel, D. ''The Ultimate Who's Who in the Bible'', (.), 2007, p. 175 is the elder son o ...

(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 James the Great, also known as James, son of Zebedee, Saint James the Great, Saint James the Greater, Saint James the Elder, or Saint Jacob ( Aramaic ܝܥܩܘܒ ܒܪ ܙܒܕܝ, Arabic يعقوب, Hebrew בן זבדי , '' Yaʿăqōḇ'', Latin ...

, (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 ...

, 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 The New Testament provides two accounts of the genealogy of Jesus, one in the Gospel of Matthew and another in the Gospel of Luke. Matthew starts with Abraham, while Luke begins with Adam. The lists are identical between Abraham and David, ...

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 Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gr ...

– Jakob, Jakobus, Jacobus * Albanian – Jakob, Jakov, Jakub, Jakup, Gjokë, Gjoka, Zhak *

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

– Yaʿqūb, Yakub (يعقوب); see also

Jacob in Islam Yaqub ibn Ishaq ibn Ibrahim (Arabic: يَعْقُوب ابْنُ إِسْحَٰق ابْنُ إِبْرَاهِيم, literally: "''Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham''" ar, يَعْقُوب , translit=Yaqub; also later ''Israil'', Arabic: إ ...

* Aragonese – Chacobo, Chaime * Armenian – Յակոբ (classical Armenian and

Western Armenian Western Armenian ( Classical spelling: , ) is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. It is based mainly on the Istanbul Armenian dialect, as opposed to Eastern Armenian, which is mainly base ...

), 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 ...

) (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 – 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 – Jakob, Jakez * Bulgarian – 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 l ...

– Yakobo * Chinese – 雅各 (Yǎgè) * Cornish – Jago, Jammes, Jamma * Corsican – Ghjacumu * Croatian – Jakov, Jakob, Jakša * Czech – Jakub * Danish – Jakob, Jep, Jeppe, Ib * Dutch – Jaak, Jaap, Jakob, Jacobus, Jacco, Jaco, Sjaak, Kobus *

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

– Jack, Jake, Jakob, Jaycob; see also James *

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 communic ...

– 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 Jaak is a version of the names Jacob and James in the Estonian language. People named Jaak include: *Jaak Aab (born 1960), Estonian politician *Jaak Aaviksoo (born 1954), Estonian politician and physicists *Jaak Allik (born 1946), Estonian poli ...

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 scientis ...

, Jakob *

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

– Yacob, Yacob, Yakob * Faroese – Jákup * 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 Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

, Iago, Xaime * Georgian – 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 **Ge ...

– 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 *

–Ya'akov (יעקב), Koby, Ya'akova (female) *

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

– याकूब (Yākūba) * Hmong – Yakhauj * Hungarian – Jakab, Jákob * Icelandic – Jakob * Igbo – Jekọb * 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 Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

– ಜಾಕೋಬ್ (Jākōb) * Kazakh – 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 Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

– Iacobus * Latvian – Jēkabs * Lithuanian – Jokūbas *

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 Ma ...

– Јаков *

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

– ചാക്കോ (Chacko), യാക്കോബ് (Yakob) * Maltese – 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 Co ...

– Hakopa * Marathi – याकोब (Yākōba) * Malay – 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 Wells explai ...

– 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 – 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, traditiona ...

– 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 Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

– 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 (disambiguation ...

– 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, an ethno-linguistic group mainly living in Slovenia * Sl ...

– Jakob a:kop Jaka *

Somali Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali ...

– Yacquub * Sorbian – Jakub * Spanish – Jacobo, Jaime, Yago,

Diego Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''. ...

, Iago, Tiago * Swahili – Yakobo * Swedish – 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 Taga ...

– Hakob * Tajik – 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, na ...

– 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 ...

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

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 Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' 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 peopl ...

– 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 ve ...

– 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, 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