Jacob (name)

Jacob
Isaac Blessing Jacob, Govert Flinck, 1638. The name Jacob comes from the Biblical story of Jacob's birth where he came out holding the heel of his twin brother Esau.
Pronunciation	English: /ˈdʒeɪkəb/
Gender	Male
Origin
Word/Name	derived from Late Latin Iacobus, from Greek Ἰάκωβος Iakobos, from Hebrew יַעֲקֹב (Yaʿqob, Yaʿaqov, Yaʿăqōḇ)
Meaning	"Heel-Grabber"

"Tiago" redirects here. For the racehorse, see Tiago (horse).

Jacob is a common male first name and a less well-known surname. From 1999 through 2010, Jacob has been the most popular baby name for boys in United States. It is a cognate of James. Jacob is derived from Late Latin Iacobus, from Greek Ἰάκωβος Iakobos, from Hebrew יַעֲקֹב (Yaʿqob, Yaʿaqov, Yaʿăqōḇ), the name of the Hebrew patriarch, Jacob son of Isaac. It is a speaking name, referring to the circumstances of Jacob's birth, meaning "heel-grabber" (from the Hebrew root עקב ʿqb "heel"; literally, it is a finite verb formed from this root, and would translate to something like "he heeled"), since he held on to the heel of his twin brother Esau inside Rebekah's womb. Jacob may also mean "follower of God" in Aramaic. In a Christian context, the name Jacob – as James in English – is also associated with the apostles James, son of Zebedee who was the object of great veneration in the European Middle Ages, notably at Santiago de Compostela; James the Just, brother of Jesus, who led the original Christian community in Jerusalem; and James, son of Alphaeus.

Since Jacob is also venerated as a Prophet of Islam, his name is commonly used as a male first name in Arab and Muslim societies (Arabic Yakub, Turkish Yakup).

Nicknames

• Jake
• Jakey
• Jakie
• Coby
• Koby
• Jac
• Jak
• Jack
• Jackie
• Jacky
• Jocko
• Jacoby
• Jeggy
• Lucas

Variants

• English – Jacob, Jakob, Jakeb, James, Jayme, Jaime, Jimi
• Afrikaans - Jakob, Jacob
• Arabic - Yaʿqūb (Yakub) (يعقوب)
• Bosnian - Jakub (Jakup)
• Armenian - Hakob (Հակոբ), Hagop (Հակոփ)
• Bulgarian - Yakov (Яков)
• Catalan - Jacob, Jaume, Dídac
• Chinese - Yǎgè 雅各
• Cornish - Jago, Jammes, Jamma
• Croatian - Jakov
• Czech - Jakub, Kuba
• Danish - Jacob, Jakob, Jep, Jeppe, Ib
• Dutch - Jaak, Jaap, Jakob, Jacob, Jacobus, Sjaak
• Estonian - Jaak, Jaagup, Jakob
• Faroese - Jákup
• Finnish - Jaakob, Jaakoppi, Jaakko
• French - Jacques, Jacqueline (fem.)
• Galician - Xacobe, Santiago, Iago, Xaime
• German - Jakob, Jacob [ja:kop]
• Greek - Iákovos (Ιάκωβος), Iakóv (Ιακώβ), Yángos (Γιάγκος)
• Hebrew - Ya'akov (יעקב), Koby, Ya'akova (female)
• Hungarian - Jakab, Jákob
• Irish - Séamas, Séamus, Iacób
• Italian - Giacomo, Jacopo, Giacobbe
• Korean - Yagop (야곱)
• Latin - Iacobus
• Latvian - Jēkabs
• Lithuanian - Jokūbas
• Malayalam - Chacko, Yakob
• Persian - Yaghub
• Polish - Jakub (short form: Kuba)
• Portuguese - Jacob, Jacó (orthographic variation of the former), Iago (from the Latin Jacobus), Santiago (from Sant Iago, "Saint James"), Tiago (a reduction of Santiago, now the most common version; saints named "James" in English are São Tiago in Portuguese), Thiago (orthographic variation), Diogo, Jaime, Jácomo (from Italian Giacomo)
• Romanian - Iacob, Iacov
• Russian - Yakov (Иаков, Яков), Jascha, Yasha (Яша)
• Samoan - Iakopo, (eh-yuk-oh-po)
• Scandinavian - Jakob, Jacob
• Scots - Hamish
• Scottish Gaelic - Seumas
• Serbian - Jakov (Јаков)
• Slovak - Jakub
• Slovenian - Jakob [ja:kop], Jaka
• Sorbian - Jakub
• Spanish - Jacob, Jacobo, Jaime, Yago, Diego, Santiago, Iago
• Swedish - Jakob, Jacob
• Syriac - ܝܥܩܘܒ (Yaʿqub), also (Yaqo, Yaqko)
• Turkish - Yakup
• Ukrainian - Yakiv (Яків)
• Vietnamese - Giacôbê
• Welsh - Siam, Jacob, Jac, Jago
• Yiddish - Yankev, Yankl, Yankel, Yankele