♂ Name Jacob – may God protect

Q: What does the name Jacob mean?

Jacob originally means 'may God protect.' Besides, Jacob means 'holder of the heel' or 'supplanter', because he was born grasping the heel of his first-born twin brother Esau and he bought his birthright to supplant him.

Origin:	Hebrew
Meaning:	may God protect, holder of the heel, supplanter
Boy names Boy names with J Names Names with J

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The boy name Jacob is of Hebrew origin and means “may God protect.”

Where does the name Jacob come from?

Jacob is a biblical name that is derived from the Latin name Iacob and the Greek name Ἰακώβ (Iakob), that originally are derived from the Hebrew name Yaʿaqov (יַעֲקֹב) or Yaʿaqovʾel (יַעֲקֹבְאֵל).

What does the name Jacob mean?

Jacob originally means “may God protect.” Besides, Jacob means “holder of the heel” or “supplanter”, because he was born grasping the heel of his first-born twin brother Esau and he bought his birthright to supplant him.

Word composition

Hebrew “עָקַב” (‘akáv) = to follow, to supplant
Hebrew “עָקֵב” (‘akév) = heel
Hebrew “el/אֵל” = God

Pronunciation of Jacob

Chinese Dutch English French German Italian Japanese Polish Portuguese Russian Spanish Swedish Turkish

Variants of the name Jacob

Iakob Jackob Jakob Yakob

Parents who like the name Jacob also like

Jakob Noah Theo Jonas Emil Lucas Henry Jonathan Oscar Paul Joshua Felix Liam Samuel Anton Benjamin

Popularity of the name Jacob

Based on the frequency of positive ratings, we can analyze how popular names are in different countries. The name Jacob is currently ranked #161 on the name leaderboard. It is one of the most popular baby names.

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Jacob in the Top 50 Names

	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
🇦🇺 Australia	-	-	✓	✓	✓	✓
🇨🇦 Canada	-	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
🇩🇰 Denmark	-	-	-	✓	✓	✓
🇬🇧 Great Britain	-	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
🇮🇪 Ireland	-	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
🇺🇸 USA	-	-	-	-	-	✓