Yaakov
Masculine · “heel" or "he follows”
Yaakov is the Hebrew name behind Jacob, James, Jacques and Yakov — a single name that has been in continuous use for roughly three thousand years, and that this spelling carries back closest to its source. In the mouth it moves through three easy vowels, ya-a-KOV, with the weight at the end. It is the form written on Hebrew documents and read in synagogue, kept in the family alongside its many traveled cousins.
How old is the name Yaakov?
Yaakov first appears in US birth records in 1948 — 77 years ago. The typical Yaakov alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 5,800 people named Yaakov are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Yaakov most popular?
Yaakov peaked in 1986, reaching #848 nationally. Today it ranks #1024, 176 places below that high. See the whole 1986 chart.
Yaakov appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Yaʿaqov to Yaakov
The story of Yaakov
The name belongs to the third of the Hebrew patriarchs, and so it entered the written record about as early as names do. When Jewish scholars in Alexandria translated the Hebrew scriptures into Greek in the third century BCE, Yaʿaqov became Iakōb; Latin turned that into Iacobus, and from there Europe made Jacob, Jacques, Giacomo, Diego and — through the variant Iacomus — James. Meanwhile the Hebrew original never stopped being used, and Yiddish-speaking communities carried it as Yankev with the pet form Yankel. In the United States, Yaakov is the transliteration chosen by families who want the Hebrew name itself rather than one of its descendants, and it is most concentrated in the Jewish communities of New Jersey, New York and Maryland.
Meaningscholars disagree
"heel" or "he follows"; also read as "may God protect"
The Book of Genesis links the name to the Hebrew word for heel, aqev, in the account of Jacob's birth, and to the sense of following or supplanting. Semitic scholars generally read it instead as a shortened form of a longer name meaning something like "may God protect" — a common shape for names of that period. Both readings are seriously held; neither cancels the other.
How the name formed
- Yaʿaqov
- Iakōb
- Iacobus
- Jacob
- James
Related forms: Jacob · Yankev · Yakov · Yaqub · Jakob · Jacobo
Pronouncing Yaakov
yah-ah-KOV
Three syllables, stress on the last, as in Israeli Hebrew. Many American speakers say yah-AH-kuv instead, with the weight in the middle; both are widely heard and neither is wrong.
Nicknames for Yaakov
High
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
- 1948
- Most boys named
- 2021237 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #848reached in 1986
- Change vs 2024
- −6.4%218 in 2025, from 233
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.
Yaakov in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Jacob in English — same name
- Yankev in Yiddish — same name
- Yakov in Russian — same name
- Yaqub in Arabic — same name
- Jakob in German — same name
- Jacobo in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New Jersey, New York, Maryland.
Yaakovs among us
people named Yaakov are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 7,835 born in 2025 was named Yaakov
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Yaakov
- #1024
- Yaakov on the 2025 chart
- #587
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Yaakov went to 218 boys in 2025, but Yakov is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 371, which makes it the 587th most-given boys’ name of the year — 437 places above the chart.
- Yaakov218
- Yakov153
About 1 boy in 4,604 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 7,835 for Yaakov 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 Angela test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Yaakov's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Angela climbed just as high around 1971, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Angela's path sketches the road Yaakov is walking now.
Yaakov 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 Yaakov is headed
Yaakov 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.
Yaakov beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Yaakov in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Instantly placeable for most listeners through Jacob, James and Yakov, so the name needs no explanation even where the spelling is new.
- One of the oldest names still in ordinary use — an unbroken line from the Hebrew Bible to this year's kindergartens.
- Established short forms already exist in more than one language: Yanky, Kobi, Yankel, Jake.
- Travels intact: a Yaakov is Yakov in Russian, Yaqub in Arabic, Jakob in German — the same name, not a substitute.
- The transliteration is not fixed. Yakov, Yaacov, Ya'akov and Yaakov all circulate, so this spelling will need to be given out letter by letter fairly often.
- Stress placement varies between Hebrew and American usage, and a child will hear the name said both ways — worth deciding early which one your family corrects to.
- It reads unmistakably as a Hebrew name, which is the point for many families and a consideration for others. Outside the regions where it clusters, most people will meet it here first — and its English twin, Jacob, is familiar to everyone, so the ground is already prepared.
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What they receive
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Yaakov
Masculine · #1024 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Yaakovs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,800 people named Yaakov are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Yaakov?
- Yaakov is the most-used spelling in US records — 218 of the 371 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Yakov.
- How popular is the name Yaakov in 2025?
- Yaakov ranks #1024 among US boy names in 2025, with 218 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Yaakov?
- About 1 in every 7,835 US boys born in 2025 was named Yaakov — 218 in all.
- Will my child share the name Yaakov with classmates?
- Yaakov will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Yaakov
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kooper#1024 · Gatlin#1026 · Semaj#1026 · Bastian#1021 · Kamazi#1021 · Stefan#1021 · Kaius#1028 · Devon#1028
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Yaakov? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Yaakov 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.
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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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