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	/ˈdʒeɪkəb/
Gender	Male
Origin
Word/Name	derived from Late Latin Iacobus, from Greek Ἰάκωβος Iakobos, from Hebrew יַעֲקֹב (Yaʿqob, Yaʿaqov, Yaʿăqōḇ)
Meaning	"seizing by the heel", "supplanting"

Look up Jacob in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Jacob is a common male first name and a less well-known surname. From 1999 through 2012, Jacob has been the most popular baby name for boys in United States.^[1] 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 and Rebecca. The name comes from the Hebrew root עקב ʿqb meaning "to follow, to be behind" but also "to supplant, circumvent, assail, overreach", from the word for "heel", עֲקֵב ʿaqeb).

In the narrative of Genesis, it refers to the circumstances of Jacob's birth when he held on to the heel of his older twin brother Esau (Genesis 25:26). The name is etymologized (in direct speech by the character Esau) in Genesis 27:36, adding the significance of Jacob having "supplanted" his elder brother by stealing his birthright.^[2]

In a Christian context, Jacob – James as reduced English form – is the name for several people in the New Testament: (1) apostle James, son of Zebedee, (2) another apostle James, son of Alphaeus, and (3) James the Just, who led the original Messianic Community in Jerusalem.

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).

Variants

• Albanian - Jakup, Jakupi
• English – Jacob, Jake, Jakob, Jakeb, James, Jayme, Jaime, Jimi, Jack, Jim, Jimmy, Coby, Koby, Cubby
• Afrikaans - Jakob, Jacob, Jakobus, Jacobus
• Arabic - Yaʿqūb (Yakub) (يعقوب)
• Bosnian - Jakub (Jakup)
• Armenian - Hakob (Հակոբ), Hagop (Յակոբ)
• Bulgarian - Yakov (Яков)
• Catalan - Jacob, Jaume, Dídac
• Chinese - Yǎgè 雅各
• Cornish - Jago, Jammes, Jamma
• Croatian - Jakov, Jakob, Jakša
• Czech - Jakub (short form: Kuba)
• Danish - Jacob, Jakob, Jep, Jeppe, Ib
• Dutch - Jaak, Jaap, Jakob, Jacob, Jacobus, Sjaak, Kobus
• Estonian - Jaak, Jaagup, Jakob
• Faroese - Jákup
• Finnish - Jaakob, Jaakoppi, Jaakko
• French - Jacob, Jacques, Jacqueline (fem.)
• Galician - Xacobe, Santiago, Iago, Xaime
• Georgian - იაკობ (Iakob), კობა (Koba)
• German - Jakob, Jacob [ja:kop]
• Greek - Iákovos (Ιάκωβος), Iakóv (Ιακώβ), Yángos (Γιάγκος)
• Hebrew - Ya'akov (יעקב), Koby, Ya'akova (female)
• Hungarian - Jakab, Jákob
• Indonesian - Yakub
• Irish - Séamas, Séamus, Iacób
• Italian - Diego, Giacomo, Jacopo, Iacopo, Giacobbe
• Japanese - Maō
• Kazakh - Жақып (Zhaqyp, Zhakip)
• Korean - Yagop (야곱)
• Latin - Iacobus
• Latvian - Jēkabs
• Lithuanian - Jokūbas
• Malayalam - Chacko, Yakob
• Maltese - Ġakbu
• Persian - Yaghub
• Polish - Jakub (short form: Kuba)
• Portuguese - Jacob, Jacó (orthographic variation of the former), Iago (from the Latin Jacobus), Saint James"), Tiago saints named "James" in English are São Tiago in Portuguese), Thiago (archaic spelling), 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), Jakša (Јакша)
• Slovak - Jakub
• Slovenian - Jakob [ja:kop], Jaka
• Sorbian - Jakub
• Spanish - Jacob, Jacobo, Jaime, Yago, Diego, Santiago, Iago, Tiago
• Swedish - Jakob, Jacob
• Syriac - ܝܥܩܘܒ (Yaʿqub), also (Yaqo, Yaqko)
• Turkish - Yakup
• Ukrainian - Yakiv (Яків)
• Vietnamese - Giacôbê
• Welsh - Siam, Jacob, Jac, Iago
• Yiddish - Yankev, Yankl, Yankel, Yankele

See also

• All pages beginning with "Jacob"
• All pages beginning with "Jakob"
• Jacob (surname)

References