Jacob

Meaning

Jacob comes from the Hebrew Ya‘aqov. In the supplied 19th-century sources, it is glossed as “supplanter” and explained through the biblical sense of “taking hold of the heel,” i.e. “heel-holder.” The excerpts also connect it with the idea of one who supplants or lays snares, reflecting older etymological interpretation.

Origin

Fun fact

The name became so common in Christian naming that it generated feminine forms like Jacoba and Jacobina in the older naming books.