Jakeb
Masculine · “Supplanter”
Jakeb changes both letters of the second syllable of Jacob: the c becomes a k and the o becomes an e. Neither change is audible, since the syllable is unstressed and English reduces it to nothing, and the name is said exactly as the standard spelling is.
How old is the name Jakeb?
Jakeb first appears in US birth records in 1982 — 43 years ago. The typical Jakeb alive today was born around 2000, making them about 25 years old. About 1,100 people named Jakeb are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jakeb most popular?
Jakeb peaked in 1999, reaching #1517 nationally. See the whole 1999 chart.
Where it comes from
From Yaakov to Jakeb
The story of Jakeb
The story does not take his side. He buys his brother's birthright with a bowl of lentils when the man comes in from the field too hungry to argue, then tricks his blind father into giving him the blessing meant for the other one, then leaves the country in a hurry. His father-in-law cheats him in turn for twenty years and the text plainly thinks that is fair. What is remarkable about the account is how little it excuses: the founder of the nation is presented as a man who gets what he wants by manipulation, is punished for it repeatedly, and is renamed only after being physically beaten in the dark by somebody who will not say who he is.
Meaningscholars disagree
Supplanter, by tradition
The traditional reading comes from a pun the text makes rather than from the word itself: the name is connected to the word for a heel because of the circumstances of the birth, and to a verb about supplanting because of what happens later. Scholars generally treat the actual derivation as open, and a possible original meaning involves God protecting.
How the name formed
- Yaakov
- Iacobus
- Jacob
- Jakeb
Related forms: Yaakov · Jacobo · Jakob · Yaqub
Pronouncing Jakeb
JAY-kub
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The second is reduced to nothing, which is why the o in the standard spelling and the e in this one are said identically and neither can be defended by ear.
Nicknames for Jakeb
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
- 1982
- Most boys named
- 199974 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1517reached in 1999
- Change vs 2016
- −64.3%5 in 2017, from 14
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.
Jakeb in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Yaakov in Hebrew — transliteration
- Jacobo in Spanish — same name
- Jakob in Dutch — same name
- Yaqub in Arabic — same name
Jakebs among us
people named Jakeb are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Jakeb sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The spoken name is among the most established in the world and never needs repeating.
- Jake is a short, plain, adult everyday form available from the first day.
- The k removes any ambiguity from the middle of the name.
- Jacob is enormously commoner and will be written by anyone taking dictation.
- Neither change is audible, so the spelling cannot be defended in speech.
- It is closely dated to the last decades of the twentieth century.
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Jakeb
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Jakebs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,100 people named Jakeb are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jakeb in 2025?
- Jakeb is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Jakeb with classmates?
- Jakeb will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More J names
The most-given names starting with J, all years combined.
James#6 · John#23 · Joseph#29 · Joshua#66 · Jason#165 · Jacob#43 · Jeffrey#552 · Jonathan#89
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jakeb? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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