Name Jakob Origin, meaning, pronunciation & popularity of the name Jakob

Jakob is a ♂ boy’s name.

What is the origin of the name Jakob?

Jakob is a variant of the name Jacob, e.g. in Germany or Scandinavia. It is a name of Hebrew origin and occurs in the bible. It derived from the Hebrew name Ya’aqov (יַעֲקֹב). In the Old Testament, Jakob is the son of Isaac and Rebecca, the twin brother of Esau and the father of the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel.

What does the name Jakob mean?

Jakob originally means “may God protect” (from Semitic “Ja’akow’el”). Besides, Jakob means “holder of the heel” (from Hebrew “‘akév/עָקֵב” = heel) or “supplanter” (from Hebrew “‘akáv/עָקַב” = to follow/to supplant), because he was born grasping the heel of his first born twin brother Esau and he bought his birthright to supplant him.

Jakob or Jacob?

In languages derived from Germanic, Nordic or Slavic, Jakob is usually spelled with the letter “k”. However, in English and Romanic languages, Jacob with a “c” is more prevalent.

Other variants and nicknames

There are many other versions of the Name Jakob around the world. Examples are Jake and James in English, Jacques in French, Giacomo in Italian, Jacobo and Diego in Spanish, Tiago in Portuguese, Jaakko in Finnish, Jaagup in Estonian, Jakub and Jakov in Slavic, Kimo in Hawaiian, or the Latinized forms James and Jacobus.
The female variants of Jakob are Jakoba, Jakobine or Jacqueline. Jacqueline derived from the French version of Jakob, namely Jacques. When it comes to picking nicknames one has to distinguish between nicknames picked by adults and nicknames picked by teenagers. Amongst adults nicknames such as Jack, Jake, Coby and Bob are popular. Whereas among teenagers the names J.B, Jack-B, Jackson, Jakko, Jax, JayB, Joko and Kobbe are more common.

Interesting facts

• “The Camino de Santiago” (Spanish) also known as “Jakobsweg” (German) or “The Way of St. James” (English) is Europe’s largest net of ancient pilgrim routes. It encompasses nine routes of which “The French Way”, the “Camino Francés”, is the most prominent.
• Jakob is not only a first name, but it is also a common last name in Germany, Swiss and the US.
• During the last years of naming low pressure areas, two low pressure areas in Europe were named Jakob.
• Jakob in binary code is: 01001010 01100001 01101011 01101111 01100010

Pronunciation of Jakob

Variants of the name Jakob

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