Yakov
Masculine · Hebrew roots · “From Hebrew Ya'aqov”
Yakov is the Slavic and Hebrew road to the same name English speakers know as Jacob — the patriarch of Genesis, carried out of Hebrew into Greek, then into Church Slavonic, and settled into Russian as Яков. In American records it turns up most in New York, New Jersey and California, the places where Russian-speaking and Hebrew-speaking families have long overlapped. Two heavy syllables, nothing silent, and a shelf of ready-made short forms behind it.
How old is the name Yakov?
Yakov first appears in US birth records in 1953 — 72 years ago. The typical Yakov alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 3,300 people named Yakov are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Yakov most popular?
Yakov peaked in 2024, reaching #1193 nationally. Today it ranks #1281, 88 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Ya'aqov (Hebrew) to Yakov
The story of Yakov
The name begins as Hebrew Ya'aqov, borne by the third patriarch of Genesis and so passed into every tradition that inherited those scriptures. Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible wrote it Iakōb; from Greek it entered Church Slavonic as Iakov, and from there became the standard Russian Yakov, while Latin's Iacobus branched off toward Jacob, James, Jaime and Giacomo. Yiddish-speaking communities kept the Hebrew closer, as Yankev and Yaakov. Yakov reaches the United States along both of those lines at once — as the Russian form and as a transliteration of the Hebrew — which is why the American record clusters where those communities settled.
Meaningscholars disagree
From Hebrew Ya'aqov — either "heel-holder, supplanter" or "may God protect"
The Book of Genesis ties the name to 'aqev, "heel", since Jacob was born gripping his twin's heel, and to the verb 'aqav, "to supplant". Many scholars read it instead as a shortened theophoric name, something like Ya'aqov-El, "may God protect". Both readings are serious and both are old; the biblical wordplay is the one most families know.
How the name formed
- Ya'aqovHebrew
- IakōbGreek
- IakovChurch Slavonic
- YakovRussian
- JacobEnglish
Related forms: Yaakov · Jacob · Jakub · Jakob · Giacomo · Ya'qub
Pronouncing Yakov
YAH-kov
Stress on the first syllable in Russian and English use, with the final consonant often softening toward -kuhf in Russian. The Hebrew pronunciation of the fuller form runs ya-ah-KOV, with the weight at the end — families sometimes use both, depending on who is speaking.
Nicknames for Yakov
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
- 1953
- Most boys named
- 2024172 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1193reached in 2024
- Change vs 2024
- −11.0%153 in 2025, from 172
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.
Yakov in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Yaakov in Hebrew — transliteration
- Jacob in English — same name
- Jakub in Polish — same name
- Jakob in German — same name
- Giacomo in Italian — related form
- Ya'qub in Arabic — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, New Jersey, California.
Yakovs among us
people named Yakov are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 11,164 born in 2025 was named Yakov
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Yakov
- #1281
- Yakov on the 2025 chart
- #587
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Yakov went to 153 boys in 2025, but Yaakov 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 — 694 places above the chart.
- Yaakov218
- Yakov153
About 1 boy in 4,604 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 11,164 for Yakov 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 Jacinto test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Yakov's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jacinto climbed just as high around 1944, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jacinto's path sketches the road Yakov is walking now.
Yakov 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 Yakov is headed
Yakov 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.
Yakov beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Yakov in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Interchangeable in substance with Jacob, so the name is instantly understood even by people meeting the spelling for the first time.
- A documented, unbroken line from Hebrew through Greek and Slavonic into modern use — few names have a clearer paper trail.
- Several established short forms already in real use: Yasha, Yanky, Koby, Jake.
- Five letters, no silent ones; an English speaker can read it aloud on the first try.
- The spelling competes with Yaakov, Jakov and Yakob, and people who know the name may default to whichever version their own community uses. Expect to correct paperwork now and then.
- Teachers and forms may quietly convert it to Jacob, the familiar English cousin. Worth deciding in advance whether that is a shrug or a correction.
- The name carries clear Russian and Jewish associations. For many families that is precisely the point; it is simply worth knowing the name arrives with that context attached.
- A child named Yakov will very likely be the only one in the building — pleasant most days, occasionally tiring at roll call.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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Yakov
Masculine · Hebrew roots · #1281 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Yakovs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,300 people named Yakov are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Yakov?
- Yakov is one of 2 recorded spellings. Yaakov is the more common one — 218 births in 2025 against 153 for Yakov.
- How popular is the name Yakov in 2025?
- Yakov ranks #1281 among US boy names in 2025, with 153 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Yakov?
- About 1 in every 11,164 US boys born in 2025 was named Yakov — 153 in all.
- Will my child share the name Yakov with classmates?
- Yakov will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Yakov
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Reginald#1281 · Aryeh#1281 · Ronen#1281 · Kolten#1281 · Jadon#1281 · Krish#1276 · Octavio#1276 · Andreas#1276
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Yakov? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Yakov and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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