Yacob
- Gender
- Boy
- Say it
- YAH-kob
- Origin
- Hebrew
- UK rank, 2025
- #5,065 for boys
Yacob is a boys' name of Hebrew origin, meaning “supplanter; held by the heel”. In 2025 it ranked 5,065th for boys in the UK (3 babies).
What does Yacob mean?
Hebrew: form of Jacob
“supplanter; held by the heel”
Form of Jacob used in Ethiopia and Eritrea; Zara Yaqob was a 15th-century Ethiopian emperor.
Is Yacob a girl's or a boy's name?
Yacob is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 3 boys in the UK. Too few girls were given it to be listed.
How popular is Yacob in the UK?
- Rank in 2025
- #5,065among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 3about 1 in 100,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Steadymuch the same
- Same name in a class
- under 1%chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 3 boys in the UK were named Yacob, making it the 5,065th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 6,143rd. Its busiest year was 2013, with 8 boys.
2025 had fewer boys named Yacob than any year since 2020.
Half of all the boys named Yacob in the UK since 1996 were born between 2009 and 2019, the years shaded on the chart below.
In 2025, 40 boys in the UK were given Yacob or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #781, up from #5,065 for this spelling alone.
Among boys in 2025, it was 4,974th in England and Wales.
Yacob in the UK, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 | #5,065 |
| 2024 | 4 | #4,346 |
| 2023 | 7 | #2,965 |
| 2022 | 4 | #4,195 |
| 2021 | 6 | #3,179 |
| 2020 | 1 | #6,143 |
| 2019 | 8 | #2,633 |
| 2018 | 5 | #3,596 |
| 2017 | 6 | #3,191 |
| 2016 | 5 | #3,655 |
| 2015 | 0 | – |
| 2014 | 5 | #3,529 |
| 2013 | 8 | #2,541 |
| 2012 | 7 | #2,849 |
| 2011 | 0 | – |
| 2010 | 0 | – |
| 2009 | 7 | #2,679 |
| 2008 | 6 | #2,906 |
| 2007 | 4 | #3,748 |
| 2006 | 5 | #3,013 |
| 2005 | 3 | #3,992 |
| 2004 | 0 | – |
| 2003 | 3 | #3,593 |
| 2002 | 0 | – |
| 2001 | 4 | #2,714 |
How popular is Yacob in the US?
No boys in the US were given it in 2025, or too few to be listed. Its busiest year was 2017, with 18 boys. It first appears in the records in 1990.
Half of all the boys named Yacob in the US since 1880 were born between 2007 and 2018, the years shaded on the chart below.
Yacob in the US, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 8 | #8,982 |
| 2023 | 9 | #8,250 |
| 2022 | 5 | #12,322 |
| 2021 | 5 | #12,141 |
| 2020 | 5 | #12,016 |
| 2019 | 13 | #6,401 |
| 2018 | 13 | #6,341 |
| 2017 | 18 | #5,107 |
| 2016 | 8 | #8,811 |
| 2015 | 10 | #7,486 |
| 2014 | 12 | #6,627 |
| 2013 | 6 | #10,722 |
| 2012 | 9 | #8,152 |
| 2011 | 7 | #9,593 |
| 2010 | 10 | #7,585 |
| 2009 | 5 | #12,486 |
| 2008 | 5 | #12,546 |
| 2007 | 9 | #8,169 |
| 2006 | 9 | #7,992 |
| 2005 | 0 | – |
| 2004 | 6 | #9,941 |
| 2003 | 5 | #10,886 |
| 2002 | 6 | #9,385 |
| 2001 | 7 | #8,332 |
| 2000 | 0 | – |
| 1999 | 0 | – |
| 1998 | 0 | – |
| 1997 | 0 | – |
| 1996 | 0 | – |
| 1995 | 0 | – |
| 1994 | 5 | #8,794 |
| 1993 | 0 | – |
| 1992 | 0 | – |
| 1991 | 0 | – |
| 1990 | 7 | #6,408 |
Names like Yacob
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Yusuf Yunus Zion Ezra Yaqub Luca Axel Noah Caleb Musa Albie Asher
Other spellings of Yacob
Names related to Yacob
More Hebrew names
Isabella Elijah James Jack Mia Ava Jude Benjamin Isaac Jacob Ethan Daniel Samuel Elias Mateo Elsie
Sources
Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Yacob: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/yacob, updated 20 October 2026.