Popularity of the last name by country

Netherlands

All countries

Origine of last name

JACOB : Jewish English Welsh German Portuguese French (mainly Alsace and Lorraine) Walloon Breton Dutch Flemish Swedish Danish and Norwegian: derivative via Latin Jacob(us) from the Hebrew personal name Ya‘aqob (Yaakov). In the Bible this is the name of the crafty younger twin brother of Esau (Genesis 25:26) who took advantage of the latter's hunger and impetuousness to persuade him to part with his birthright ‘for a mess of potage’. The name is traditionally interpreted as coming from Hebrew akev ‘heel’: Jacob is said to have been born holding on to Esau's heel. In English usage the name Jacob is regarded as distinct from the name <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/James">James</a> but they are of identical origin. In North America the English form of the surname has absorbed cognates from other languages for example Assyrian/Chaldean or Arabic <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/Yaqub">Yaqub</a> <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/Yakub">Yakub</a> <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/Yacoub">Yacoub</a> or <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/Yacob">Yacob</a> Slovenian <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/Jakob">Jakob</a> and Jakop Czech and Slovak <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/Jakub">Jakub</a> and also their patronymics and other derivatives (see examples at <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/Jacobs">Jacobs</a> and <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/Jacobson">Jacobson</a>). The name Jacob is also found among Christians in southern India (compare <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/Chacko">Chacko</a>) but since South Indians traditionally do not have hereditary surnames the southern Indian name was in most cases registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US.

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