Jacob
given name · Latin script
Recorded as a male name· opposite-gender records fall within measured source noise
Jacob is a given name written in the Latin script, with more bearers in the United States than in any other country. In Denmark it is the 14th most common given name. In English, recorded as From the personal name Jacob, via Latin Jacobus from Hebrew Yaakov; probably 'heel'.
- DKDenmark1 in 289(measured from records)
- USUnited States1 in 413
- ZASouth Africa≈1 in 885
carrying the name, as counted by its national register where one exists and as Mondonomo estimates it elsewhere (marked ≈ and "est." on hover). Where a country counts another spelling of the name rather than Jacob itself, the figure is that spelling’s, and it is named. One hue, darker where it is more common; hover a country for its figure.
- United States (measured from records)
- #439 (measured from records)
- 5 (measured from records)
- Sources
- 643 (measured from records)
- 1 in 289 (inferred from the name graph)
805,730 people, 2020
of 15M given names
recorded for this name
Highest-authority source
Denmark
measured from records inferred from the name graph
Spellings & scripts(measured from records)
Locally spelled Jakob in DE Germany, NO Norway, SE Sweden and 1 more and Jacobs in ZA South Africa.
Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records, and ○ marks a model's transliteration; click a spelling to open its page.
Meaning & origin(measured from records)
From the personal name Jacob, via Latin Jacobus from Hebrew Yaakov; probably 'heel'.
Sources 1
- Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history]
Attested across 13 languages in the etymology graph.
How Jacob is read(measured from records)
Jacob is one spelling over 2 language communities, and the dictionaries record it differently in 2 of them. Each row is what a source recorded for that language, beside the share of this name’s records the language holds. No single row is the name’s meaning.
- English77%
From the personal name Jacob, via Latin Jacobus from Hebrew Yaakov; probably 'heel'.
as a nameEncyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history]
- Spanish6.1%
From Hebrew Ya'aqob, 'he who seizes the heel' or 'supplanter'; biblical patriarch's name.
as a nameDiccionario etimológico de nombres propios
The share is ours — how much of this name’s records each language holds. The sense beside it is the source’s, quoted and credited, including where it names a gender. We do not publish a gender of our own per language: our records carry one figure for the spelling as a whole.
Where in the world(measured from records)
Jacob counted together with the spellings and other-language forms grouped with it. Where a register counted another spelling, the row names it.
Sorted by bearers: national registers' counts, and Mondonomo's estimates (≈, est.) where no register counts.
| Country | Most common spelling | Sources | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US United States | #188 | 805,730 | 1 in 413 | 805K | Jacob | 643 |
| NG Nigeria | #214 | ≈190,000 est. | ≈1 in 1.1K | — | Jacob | 110 |
| ZA South Africa | #69 | ≈64,000 est. | ≈1 in 885 | — | Jacobs | 163 |
| DE Germany | #241 | ≈57,000 est. | ≈1 in 1.4K | listed | Jakob | 245 |
| GB United Kingdom | #304 | ≈31,000 est. | ≈1 in 2.1K | 14K | Jacob | 331 |
| DK Denmark | #14 | 20,316 | 1 in 289 | 20K | Jacob | 207 |
| SE Sweden | #94 | 15,821as Jakob | 1 in 645 | 16K | Jakob | 145 |
| NO Norway | #165 | 7,769as Jakob | 1 in 704 | 28K | Jakob | 85 |
| SI Slovenia | — | 6,201as Jakob | 1 in 339 | 6.3K | Jakob | 43 |
805,730 people counted by Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex, 2020. Exact figures are national registers' own counts, while figures marked ≈ and est. are Mondonomo’s estimates, counted from our sources and calibrated against those registers; hover one for how far to trust it in that country. A dash means neither exists.
Registers cited: Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex; Surnames of England and Wales (taliesin-arlein.net, Sept 2002 electoral register); Danmarks Statistik — Hvor mange hedder...? (living-population name counts); SSB PxWebApi — Persons/Last names by year (StatBank tables 10501/12891); SSB — Navnesøk (name-search service, living population); Skatteverket — Sök hur många som har ett visst namn (living population); SURS — resident population given names; stat.si Imena rojstva — full name register (per-token frequency + rank). Figures without a register are Mondonomo estimates; see Methodology.
Country figures for a list of names, at full precision, are available under licence rather than by scraping this table (how that works).
Other recorded senses(measured from records)
Jacob is also recorded in 4 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.
The name 'Jacob' (Ya'aqov) is popularly etymologized in Genesis as 'heel-catcher' or 'supplanter' (from 'aqev', heel), though scholars suggest it may derive from a theophoric name like Ya'aqov-El ('May God protect'). The name 'Israel' (Yisra'el) is etymologized as 'God contends' or 'one who struggles with God' (from 'sarah', to contend/rule, and 'El', God).
as a nameBiblical Names Compiled Database
The name Jacob is of Hebrew origin (Ya'aqov) and is traditionally understood to mean "he takes by the heel" or "supplanter," based on the story of the patriarch Jacob's birth in Genesis 25:26. Another possible meaning is "may God protect."
as a nameBiblical Names Compiled Database
A classic and enduring name of Hebrew origin meaning 'supplanter' or 'follower'. It has remained one of the most popular male names in the Western world for centuries.
as a nameBiblical Names Compiled Database
Jacob's significance is primarily genealogical; he serves as a vital link in the lineage of Jesus presented in the Gospel of Matthew, which establishes Jesus's legal claim as the Messiah and heir to the throne of David through his legal father, Joseph.
as a nameBiblical Names Compiled Database
Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.
Notable people with this name(measured from records)
- Jöns Jacob Berzeliusb. 1779SESwedish chemist (1779–1848)
- Camille Pissarrob. 1830FRnot in their usual nameDanish-French painter (1830-1903)
- Jack Kirbyb. 1917USnot in their usual nameAmerican comic book artist (1917–1994)
- Rodney Dangerfieldb. 1921USnot in their usual nameAmerican stand-up comedian (1921–2004)
- Jacob Zumab. 1942ZA4th President of South Africa (2009–2018)
- Jack Blackb. 1969USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor, comedian, singer, musician and producer (born 1969)
- Jake Gyllenhaalb. 1980USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor (born 1980)
- Jake McLaughlinb. 1982USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor
- Daniel Radcliffeb. 1989GBnot in their usual nameEnglish actor and film producer (born 1989)
- Jacob Batalonb. 1996USAmerican actor
The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).
Evidence(measured from records)
Attested in 165 sources across 81 countries.
| Country | Register | Year | Count | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US United States | Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex | 2020 | 805K | #37 |
| DK Denmark | Danmarks Statistik — Hvor mange hedder...? (living-population name counts) | — | 20K | #32 |
| SE Sweden | Skatteverket — Sök hur många som har ett visst namn (living population) | — | 15K | #289 |
| NO Norway | SSB — Navnesøk (name-search service, living population) | — | 15K | #307 |
| SE Sweden | SCB — Namnstatistik (to 2023) | 2020 | 11K | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 2025 | 6.2K | — |
| NO Norway | SSB PxWebApi — Persons/Last names by year (StatBank tables 10501/12891) | 2025 | 4.3K | — |
| GB United Kingdom | ONS — Baby names England and Wales (2024) | 2024 | 1.5K | #30 |
| US United States | Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex | 2020 | 1.2K | #37 |
| NO Norway | SSB — Navnesøk (name-search service, living population) | — | 20 | #18,626 |
| SI Slovenia | SURS — resident population given names | 2024 | 5 | #3,674 |
Reference works 9
- Dictionary of American Family Names
- The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland
- Nederlandse FamilienamenBank (Dutch surname bank; ex-Meertens Instituut, now CBG)2007
- Nişanyan Adlar (Turkish given-name national-registry frequency)
- Wikipedia given-name tokens
- Wikipedia surname tokens
- Wikidata name items (native-script + romanized given/family names)
- Rymut, Słownik nazwisk współcześnie w Polsce używanych (10 vols, IJP PAN, Kraków 1992–1994) — every Polish surname in the PESEL register at the end of 1990, with bearer counts nationally and per voivodeship1990
- jeantosti.com — Dictionnaire des noms de famille de France et d'ailleurs (Jean Tosti)
These works list the name; their figures are licensed and are not reproduced here.
Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.
Frequently asked questions
- What are other forms of the name Jacob?
- In the etymology graph, James, Jay and Jaime are forms of the same name in other languages; Jaap and Sjaak are recorded short or pet forms.
- What does the name Jacob mean, and where does it come from?
- From the personal name Jacob, via Latin Jacobus from Hebrew Yaakov; probably 'heel'. Recorded by Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history].
- Is Jacob a male or female name?
- Jacob is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.
- In which country does Jacob have the most bearers?
- In the United States, the national register counted about 806 thousand people named Jacob, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled jacob.
- Where is Jacob most common?
- Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Jacob is densest in Denmark — about 1 in 289 people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.
- How common is the name Jacob?
- In the United States, the national register counted 805,730 people named Jacob in 2020, about 1 in 413 residents.
- How common is Jacob compared with other names?
- In the United States, Jacob is the 188th most common given name of 2,815,431 given names recorded there.
What do you want to know about Jacob?
Nobody replies to these one by one, but what readers ask decides what these pages answer next.
Query this name via API
curl https://api.mondonomo.ai/api/v1/name-graph/jacobThe same payload this page is built from: spellings and scripts, countries and languages, related names, and the registers that attest the form. Rate-limited for casual use; a free API key gives 1,000 requests a day, and bulk access is licensed separately.
About this data
measured from records inferred from the name graph machine-generated
These figures come from the data snapshot of and will change as it is rebuilt.
Statistics are aggregated from the Mondonomo name corpus; related names and etymology are inferred from the name graph; pronunciation and any machine-marked transliterations are model-generated. Read how the numbers are made, including their known failure modes, and where the data comes from.
Reference works we consult — surname dictionaries, official name registers, Wikidata and Wiktionary — are named directly, beside the claims they support. The per-country source counts also include datasets of person records: we publish how many there are and their authority tier, but not their names.
Cite this page Mondonomo, “Jacob” — the 188th most common given name in United States. Data snapshot 2026-10-10.