Jacques
Masculine · “supplanter”
Jacques is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 9,734 boys against 243 girls since 1880.
Jacques is the French of Jacob, and the peasant revolt of 1358 is called the Jacquerie because the name was so common it stood for a peasant.
How old is the name Jacques?
Jacques first appears in US birth records in 1888 — 137 years ago. The typical Jacques alive today was born around 1981, making them about 44 years old. About 7,900 people named Jacques are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jacques most popular?
Jacques peaked in 1969, reaching #601 nationally. Today it ranks #1932, 1,331 places below that high. See the whole 1969 chart.
Jacques appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Yaakov to Jacques
The story of Jacques
Jacques was so ordinary in medieval France that Jacques Bonhomme became the standing name for a peasant, and the 1358 revolt is the Jacquerie after it. Saint James's pilgrims were called jacquets. The name is standard across French-speaking Europe and Quebec, and appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
supplanter, heel-holder
Through the Latin Iacobus and the Hebrew Yaakov, connected in Genesis to aqev, 'heel'. Latin turned Iacobus into Iacomus, which gave French Jacques and English James — the same name splitting in two. The Hebrew gloss is in the biblical text.
How the name formed
- Yaakov
- Iacomus
- Jacques
Related forms: Jacques · James · Jaime · Giacomo
Pronouncing Jacques
ZHAHK
One syllable. The J is soft, as in the French jour; the -ues is silent.
Nicknames for Jacques
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1888
- Most boys named
- 1969170 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #601reached in 1969
- Change vs 2023
- +42.9%80 in 2025, from 56
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Jacques in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Jacques in French — same name
- James in English — related form
- Jaime in Spanish — related form
- Giacomo in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Louisiana, Florida, California.
Jacquess among us
people named Jacques are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 21,351 born in 2025 was named Jacques
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Jacques
- #1932
- Jacques on the 2025 chart
- #808
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Jacques went to 80 boys in 2025, but Jaquez, Jacquees and Jacquez are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 120, which makes it the 808th most-given boys’ name of the year — 1,124 places above the chart.
About 1 boy in 14,234 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 21,351 for Jacques itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Regis test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Jacques's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Regis climbed just as high around 1917, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Regis's path sketches the road Jacques is walking now.
Jacques sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Jacques is headed
Jacques should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Jacques beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jacques in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That a name became the word for a peasant revolt is a first-rate piece of history.
- The Jacob story behind it is one of the most vivid in Genesis.
- One syllable, firm, once the French sounds are learned.
- English speakers regularly say JAY-kwez, which no bearer intends.
- The silent -ues will confuse readers.
- It reads as distinctly French.
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Jacques
Masculine · #1932 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Jacquess are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 7,900 people named Jacques are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Jacques?
- Jacques is the most-used spelling in US records — 80 of the 120 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Jaquez, Jacquees and Jacquez.
- How popular is the name Jacques in 2025?
- Jacques ranks #1932 among US boy names in 2025, with 80 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jacques?
- About 1 in every 21,351 US boys born in 2025 was named Jacques — 80 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jacques with classmates?
- Jacques will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jacques
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kolbe#1932 · Zaidyn#1932 · Aj#1932 · Fred#1932 · Cristofer#1932 · Colston#1932 · Irvin#1932 · Cosmo#1932
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jacques? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jacques and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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