Jakub
Masculine · “heel-holder”
Jakub is the Polish and Czech form of Jacob, and Jacob is one of the three patriarchs — a name that carries a wrestling match, a ladder and a change of name in its story.
How old is the name Jakub?
Jakub first appears in US birth records in 1981 — 44 years ago. The typical Jakub alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 3,000 people named Jakub are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jakub most popular?
Jakub peaked in 2008, reaching #1031 nationally. Today it ranks #3240, 2,209 places below that high. See the whole 2008 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Yaakov to Jakub
The story of Jakub
Yaakov became Iakobos in Greek, Iacobus in Latin, and from there every European language made its own: James and Jacob in English, Jacques in French, Jakub in Polish and Czech, Jakob in German. The Slavic forms have been in continuous use since Christianisation. Jakub is among the most-used men's names in Poland and the Czech Republic, and it reaches American records with families from both.
Meaning
heel-holder, supplanter
From Hebrew Yaakov, which Genesis connects to the heel his twin's brother held at birth; the sense of one who supplants follows from the story rather than from the word alone.
How the name formed
- Yaakov
- Iacobus
- Jakub
Related forms: Jacob · Jakob · Jacobo · Yaqub
Pronouncing Jakub
YAH-koob
Two syllables, first stressed, with the Slavic j sounded as an English y. Americans usually say JAY-kub.
Nicknames for Jakub
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
- 1981
- Most boys named
- 2008184 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1031reached in 2008
- Change vs 2024
- −7.7%36 in 2025, from 39
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.
Jakub in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Jacob in English — same name
- Jakob in German — same name
- Jacobo in Spanish — same name
- Yaqub in Arabic — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Illinois, New York, New Jersey.
Jakubs among us
people named Jakub are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 47,447 born in 2025 was named Jakub
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Darel test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Jakub's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Darel climbed just as high around 1940, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Darel's path sketches the road Jakub is walking now.
Jakub 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 Jakub is headed
Jakub 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.
Jakub beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jakub in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning and a record measured in thousands of years.
- Jacob is universally recognized, so the name is never unfamiliar in English.
- Kuba is a distinctive short form with real character of its own.
- The initial J is read entirely differently in Slavic and English, so two versions will follow him.
- Jacob is the spelling American systems will default to.
- Kuba needs explaining to anyone outside a Polish or Czech family.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Jakub
Masculine · #3240 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Jakubs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,000 people named Jakub are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jakub in 2025?
- Jakub ranks #3240 among US boy names in 2025, with 36 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jakub?
- About 1 in every 47,447 US boys born in 2025 was named Jakub — 36 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jakub with classmates?
- Jakub will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jakub
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eugenio#3240 · Pace#3240 · Stoney#3240 · Dany#3240 · Rasheed#3240 · Abdirahman#3240 · Mykah#3240 · Lowell#3240
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jakub? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jakub and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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