| The boy name Jacob [ 2 syll. ja-cob, jac-ob ] is pronounced as JHEYKahB KEY. Jacob is used chiefly in the Dutch, English, and Scandinavian languages, and its origin is Hebrew. Jacob's meaning is Yahweh may protect; holder of heel; supplanter. Biblical name derived from the elements 'yahweh' name of God ; 'aqeb' meaning heel ; 'aqab' meaning to supplant, to cheat. Iacobus (Latin), Iacomus (Latin), Yaakov (Hebrew), and Yakubel (Hebrew) are original forms of Jacob. The name Jacob is from the Hebrew Yaakov or Yakubel. The usual English form James shares the same roots and is from the Late Latin byform Iacomus, itself of the Latin form Iacobus. The name Jacob was borne in the Bible by one of the twin sons of Isaac and Rebecca who was born holding on to the heel of his elder brother Esau. With God's approval, Jacob went on to trick his brother Esau of his rights as the first-born, thereby becoming he father of twelves sons who went on to found the twelve tribes of Israel. He later tricked the dying Isaac to bless him instead of Esau. Esau went on to remark that Jacob was rightly named, for Jacob 'supplanted' Esau twice. The name was first used by English speakers as a clerical name prior to the Norman Conquest, but it was not popular during the Middle Ages, except among Jews. In the 17th century, the name saw a revival among English Puritans, possibly due to their perception of supplanting others less worthy than themselves. In modern times, the name is still more popular with Jews than Christians. The name Jacqueline (French) and the name Jakoba (German) are the female forms of Jacob. The name Jacob is widely used; it has 26 variants that are used in both English and other languages. Variants of Jacob used in English include Jake, James, Jamie (also used in Scottish), Jim, Jimmie, and Jimmy. The pet forms Coby and Koby are other English variants. Foreign variants of Jacob include Diego (Spanish), Diogo (Portuguese), Giacobbe (Italian), Giacomo (Italian), Jaap (Dutch), Jacobo (Spanish), Jacopo (Italian), Jacques (French), Jago (Spanish), Jaime (Spanish), Jakob (German), Jascha (Russian), Kimo (Hawaii), Seumas (Scottish), Tiago (Portuguese and French), Yago (Spanish), and Yankel (Yiddish). Another foreign variant is the pet form Jeppe (Scandinavian). See also the related forms, Jacoby (English) and Jay (English). Jacob is a very popular baby name for boys. The name's popularity has been rising since the 1960s. At the peak of its usage in 1998, 1.777% of baby boys were given the name Jacob. It ranked at #2 then. In 2007, its usage was 1.095% and its ranking #1, and it was the most popular out of all boy names in its group. In 2007, 52% more boys were named Jacob than the next most popular name, James (English). Baby names that sound like Jacob include Jakob (German), Jephthah (English and German), Josef (German and Hebrew), Joseph (English, French, and German), Josip (Slavic), Jozef (Dutch and Slavic), Jozsef (Hungarian), Jaap (Dutch), Jacoby (English), Jacopo (Italian), Jeff (English), Jeppe (Scandinavian), Job (Dutch and English), Giacobbe (Italian), and Giuseppe (Italian). KEY: Pronunciation for Jacob: JH as in "gee (JH.IY)" ; EY as in "ate (EY.T)" ; K as in "key (K.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; B as in "be (B.IY)"
Details of famous persons named Jacob:
Biblical Figure Jacob.
Comedian Rodney Dangerfield, born Jacob Cohen, 22 November 1921 - 6 October 2004, Babylon, New York.
Fabulist Jacob Grimm, born Jakob Ludwig Carl Grimm, 4 January 1785 - 20 September 1863, Hanau, Germany. |
