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All over the world, ياكوف (Jakov , Yakov , Jakow ) is a common boy's forename. The forename ياكوف is habitual in Southern Europe, particularly Croatia, where it is a common boy's name, Montenegro, where it is quite a rare masculine name, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Not in comparison with a country's population, it is the most numerous in Croatia, the United States, and Germany. Much less frequently, ياكوف is the last name as well as the forename.
ياكوف is also a name for the fictitious and mythical characters: James, son of Alphaeus , the one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ; Yasha , the character in the play "The Cherry Orchard"; Генерал Яков Михайлович Аносов , character in The Bracelet of Garnets; Dr Jacob Freudstein , the horror movie character, The House by the Cemetery and Jacob , the character from Pete's Dragon, among other works.