Every Boy Name

Boy's name

Jacob

Say it JAY-kub 2 syllables

Hebrew · “possibly holding the heel”

Common across the UK, three Canadian provinces, Ireland, and 5 more places. Rare in France, Italy, Poland, and 13 more places.

1 in 136 boys born in Northern Ireland in 2025. Number 27 there.

Jacob in every place

Rank, count and share in all 40 places: loved in 0, common in 12, rare in 16.
Jacob in every place we hold figures for
Place Rankyear Boysshare 5 years earlier
British Isles
England and Wales41 (down)20251,2581 in 216192020
Scotland45 (down)2025981 in 200202020
Northern Ireland27 (down)2025611 in 136132020
Ireland62 (down)2025881 in 270372020
North America
Ontario (province)23 (down)2024302about 1 in 198112019
Quebec (province)12 (down)2025363about 1 in 8092020
British Columbia (province)23 (down)202375about 1 in 174132018
Nova Scotia (province)Not in the published top 212025Not listed2020
Oceania
New South Wales (state)42 (down)2025157172020
Victoria (state)76 (down)202596482020
Queensland (state)Not in the published top 1012025472020
South Australia (state)95 (down)202521382020
New Zealand83 (down)202549362020
Western Europe
France298 (up)20251751 in 1,7304022020
Netherlands166 (down)2025100about 1 in 6651282020
Central Europe
Austria412 (down)2025121 in 3,1721542020
Switzerland380 (up)2025201 in 1,8006602020
Berlin (city)243 (down)202314about 1 in 1,1081742018
Munich (city)Rare: below the complete list20251142020
Cologne (city)418 (down)20232about 1 in 3,1891802018
Bonn (city)148 (up)20254about 1 in 7921882020
Leipzig (city)241 (down)20252about 1 in 1,4381542020
Rostock (city)172 (down)20251about 1 in 1,0471352020
Nordic countries
Norway58 (down)20251161 in 201442020
Sweden126 (down)202577about 1 in 5601082020
DenmarkNot in the published top 502025Not listed2020
FinlandNot in the published top 502025No list2020
IcelandNot in the published top 102025No list2020
Southern Europe
SpainNot in the published top 1002024Not listed2019
Catalonia (region)234 (up)2025171 in 1,2182752020
Italy495 (new in the list)2024211 in 9,017Not listed2019
Central and Eastern Europe
Poland292 (down)2025141 in 9,0292822020
HungaryNot in the published top 1002025Not listed2020
SloveniaRare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
EstoniaNot in the published top 272025Not listed2020
Moscow (city)Not in the published top 612025Not listed2020
CroatiaNot in the published top 502025No list2020
Middle East
TurkeyNot in the published top 302025Not listed2020
IsraelRare: below the complete list2024Not listed2019
Latin America
ArgentinaNot in the published top 202024Not listed2019

Germany publishes no national list; the German rows are city registers. About: the publisher leaves out its smallest names, so the share is approximate. ▲ and ▼ compare the rank with five years earlier. Not listed five years earlier: not in that year’s list. No list: the place published no list that year. How these figures are computed.

About the name

In the Bible, Jacob is the patriarch, the grandson of Abraham. It comes from the Hebrew yaʿăqōḇ, linked to the word for 'heel of the foot', and the meaning is given as possibly 'holding the heel'. James and the Hebrew Yaakov are both doubles of it.

2 more paragraphs

It has two syllables, JAY-kub. Jake is the everyday short form, and related forms include Jakob, Jacques, Jay and Yakub.

Jacob ranks well in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia, and appears in Norwegian, Swedish and Dutch lists further down. Canadian records show its peak at the very end of the 1990s. Since then it has declined in most of the places that record it, so it now feels like a familiar name of the recent past rather than a current favourite.

Meaning, origin and how to say it

Say it
JAY-kub · 2 syllables · Stress on beat 1 of 2.
Meaning
“possibly holding the heel” (hedged in the source)
Origin
Hebrew
Related names
James, Yaakov, Jack, Jake, Israel, Jakob, Jeppe, Jim, Jacopo, Santiago, Jakub, Jaume, Giacomo, Seamus, Jaime, Yakub, Jacari, Jacques, Jay, Iacob, Ib, Jimmi, Jimmy, Jacobus, Jakobus, Jaap, Jaco
Where Jacob comes from (Wiktionary)

From Middle English Iacob, from Late Latin Iācōbus, from Ancient Greek Ἰάκωβος (Iákōbos), from Biblical Hebrew יַעֲקֹב (yaʿăqōḇ, literally “May He Heel”), from the third-person singular masculine imperfective form of the Semitic verb "to heel" (with various meanings), in turn from עָקֵב (ʿāqēḇ, “heel of the foot”). Doublet of James, Yaakov, and Yakub.

Shortened from the Wiktionary entry for Jacob. Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Jacob over time

Rising in 4 of the 21 regions we can compare over five years, falling in 16. Peak in Ontario and British Columbia: 1999.

Rank in England and Wales, 1996 to 2025

Jacob in England and Wales: #35 in 1996, a peak of #4 in 2013, and #41 in 2025.

#1#10#50#100#300200020052010201520202025Top 101996: #35, 2,249 boys1997: #29, 2,590 boys1998: #27, 2,686 boys1999: #28, 2,746 boys2000: #28, 2,536 boys2001: #28, 2,595 boys2002: #30, 2,537 boys2003: #27, 2,903 boys2004: #23, 2,954 boys2005: #21, 3,057 boys2006: #22, 3,193 boys2007: #20, 3,155 boys2008: #20, 3,127 boys2009: #18, 3,214 boys2010: #12, 4,308 boys2011: #7, 5,047 boys2012: #5, 5,286 boys2013: #4, 5,126 boys2014: #4, 5,050 boys2015: #5, 4,850 boys2016: #5, 4,485 boys2017: #6, 3,968 boys2018: #11, 3,350 boys2019: #11, 3,065 boys2020: #19, 2,327 boys2021: #17, 2,319 boys2022: #22, 1,892 boys2023: #24, 1,655 boys2024: #30, 1,484 boys2025: #41, 1,258 boys#35 in 1996peak #4, 2013#41in 2025
Show the numbers
YearRankBoys
1996352,249
1997292,590
1998272,686
1999282,746
2000282,536
2001282,595
2002302,537
2003272,903
2004232,954
2005213,057
2006223,193
2007203,155
2008203,127
2009183,214
2010124,308
201175,047
201255,286
201345,126
201445,050
201554,850
201654,485
201763,968
2018113,350
2019113,065
2020192,327
2021172,319
2022221,892
2023241,655
2024301,484
2025411,258

Source: Office for National Statistics (OGL v3)

The long view: in Ontario and British Columbia

Half of the boys named Jacob in Ontario and British Columbia since 1925 were born in or after 2002. Peak: 1999, about 2,102 per 100,000 boys. Babies per 100,000 boys, five-year periods.

1925-1929: 48.7 per 100,000 boys1930-1934: 53.6 per 100,000 boys1935-1939: 47.6 per 100,000 boys1940-1944: 36.4 per 100,000 boys19401945-1949: 21.1 per 100,000 boys1950-1954: 38.4 per 100,000 boys1955-1959: 54.2 per 100,000 boys1960-1964: 43.7 per 100,000 boys19601965-1969: 37.2 per 100,000 boys1970-1974: 75.3 per 100,000 boys1975-1979: 168.2 per 100,000 boys1980-1984: 242.4 per 100,000 boys19801985-1989: 399.8 per 100,000 boys1990-1994: 991.6 per 100,000 boys1995-1999: 1,781.8 per 100,000 boys2000-2004: 1,793.1 per 100,000 boys20002005-2009: 1,490.5 per 100,000 boys2010-2014: 1,291.2 per 100,000 boys2015-2019: 988 per 100,000 boys2020-2024: 643.4 per 100,000 boys20202000-2004: about 1 in 56 boys
Show the numbers
YearsPer 100,000 boys
1925–192948.7
1930–193453.6
1935–193947.6
1940–194436.4
1945–194921.1
1950–195438.4
1955–195954.2
1960–196443.7
1965–196937.2
1970–197475.3
1975–1979168.2
1980–1984242.4
1985–1989399.8
1990–1994991.6
1995–19991,781.8
2000–20041,793.1
2005–20091,490.5
2010–20141,291.2
2015–2019988
2020–2024643.4

Source: Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (OGL-Ontario); BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (OGL-BC). Dark bar: the period holding the median birth year.

Brothers and middle names for Jacob

Brother names

Names that rose and fell with Jacob, from the same generation, with no clashing sounds.

  1. 1 in 354, England and Wales

  2. 1 in 255, Scotland

  3. 1 in 153, Northern Ireland

  4. 1 in 290, England and Wales

  5. 1 in 224, Northern Ireland

  6. 1 in 162, Northern Ireland

  7. 1 in 164, England and Wales

  8. 1 in 202, Northern Ireland

  9. 1 in 204, England and Wales

  10. 1 in 224, Northern Ireland

All 40 brother names for Jacob

Middle names

Scored for rhythm against Jacob's 2 syllables and for long, steady use.

  1. 1 in 86, England and Wales

  2. 1 in 103, England and Wales

  3. 1 in 130, Scotland

  4. 1 in 62, Poland

  5. 1 in 88, England and Wales

  6. 1 in 137, Scotland

  7. 1 in 409, Ireland

  8. 1 in 622, England and Wales

Full-name check

Jacob Oliver

Syllables 2-3Initials J.O.No sound clashes between the parts.

All 40 middle names for Jacob

Sisters for Jacob: Hannah, Isabella, Molly, and 5 more
  1. HannahRose and fell with Jacob · Same generation as Jacob
  2. IsabellaRose and fell with Jacob · As common as Jacob
  3. MollyRose and fell with Jacob · Same generation as Jacob
  4. MayaRose and fell with Jacob · As common as Jacob
  5. LeahRose and fell with Jacob · Same generation as Jacob
  6. AvaRose and fell with Jacob · Hebrew, like Jacob
  7. AbigailRose and fell with Jacob · Hebrew, like Jacob
  8. GabriellaRose and fell with Jacob · Hebrew, like Jacob

Girls' names from the same engine, over the girls' lists of the same publishers.

Moved with Jacob

The boy names whose popularity rose and fell most like Jacob's across every region and decade we hold.

  1. Rare in France, Italy, Poland, and 11 more places.

  2. Common across the UK, Poland, the Netherlands, and 19 more places.

  3. Common across France, the UK, three Canadian provinces, and 8 more places.

  4. Common across the UK, Sweden, Austria, and 10 more places.

  5. Rare in France, Italy, Poland, and 13 more places.

  6. Rare in France, England and Wales, Italy, and 16 more places.

  7. Rare in France, Italy, Poland, and 13 more places.

  8. Rare in France, England and Wales, Italy, and 16 more places.

Famous people named Jacob

Jacob Grimm, Jacob Burckhardt, and 6 more

From Wikidata, ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article on them. People: Wikidata (CC0). Links go to Wikipedia in this page's language when an article exists, else English.

Questions about Jacob

How popular is Jacob in Ontario?

Jacob ranked #23 in Ontario in 2024, given to 302 boys, about 1 in 198.

Is Jacob rising in popularity?

Not overall: it is falling in more places than it is rising. Rising in 4 of the 21 regions we can compare over five years, falling in 16. Rising in: Switzerland, France, Bonn, and Catalonia.

What does Jacob mean?

Jacob means “possibly holding the heel”, according to Wiktionary. The dictionary itself marks this meaning as uncertain.

How many syllables does Jacob have?

Jacob has 2 syllables: JAY-kub.

Every rank and count on this page comes from an official birth register. How these figures are computed.

Meanings, origins and people: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikidata (CC0).

The 42 birth registers behind these figures

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