Jacob

Meaning: Its source is Yaakov, a Hebrew name meaning "One who grasps by the heel or supplanter."

Origin: "Yaakov."

Languages: This boy's name is used in English, Norwegian, Swedish and Danish.

Nicknames: Jack, Jaco, Jake, Jakie, Jay, Jaap and Sjaak

Alternative Spellings: Jakeb

Variant Forms: Jacobo and James

Feminine Forms: Jacoba and Jacqueline

Non-English Forms: Giacomo, Jacobus, Jacques, Jakub, Yakov, Jakob, Giacobbe, Yaqub, Jakov and Yakup

Source Forms: Yaakov

Popularity: The name Jacob ranked 1st in popularity for males of all ages in a sample of 2000-2003 Social Security Administration statistics, 122nd in popularity for males of all ages in a sample of the 1990 US Census and 6th in popularity for males of all ages in a sample of the 1994 US Census.

This name first made its appearance on state popularity lists of the 1990s, and has been trending upward in usage ever since.

Narrative: In the Jewish scriptures, Jacob was the youngest son of Isaac and Rebecca.

With his mother's help, Jacob tricked Isaac into giving him the blessing (and the inheritance that went with it) to which his elder brother Esau was entitled. In his rage, Esau cried ''Is he not rightly called Jacob? For he has supplanted me.''

Arts and Music

Jacob Druckman
- 1972 Pulitzer Prize winner for Music Composition (see list of Winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Music)
Jacob Obrecht (born 1450, died 1505)
Belgian composer.
- Composer of masses, motets, and chansons (see list of Composers)
Jacob van Ruisdael (born 1629, died 1682)
Dutch artist.
- Filled canvases with vast, stormy skies and expanses of water; painted Windmill at Wijk-Bij-Duurstede (see list of Artists of the 17th & 18th Centuries)

Leadership

Jacob Riis (born 1849, died 1914)
Danish-born American journalist and activist.
- Crusaded for urban reform; wrote How the Other Half Lives, 1890 (see list of Noted Social Reformers and Educators)

Miscellaneous

Jacob Hamblin
- National Cowboy Hall of Fame (see list of National Cowboy Hall of Fame)
Jacob
Son of Isaac and Rebekah; obtained his brother Esau's birthright in exchange for bread and soup.
- Appears in Genesis (see list of Biblical Names from the Old Testament)
Jacob K. Javits (born 1904, died 1986)
American senator who championed civil rights, the ERA, and other liberal causes.
- 1983 recipient of Presidential Medal of Freedom (see list of Presidential Medal of Freedom Winners)
Jacob Lawrence (born 1917)
American painter.
- 1970 Spingarn Medal winner (see list of Spingarn Medal Winners)

Science and Philosophy

Jacob Bjernes
- 1966 National Medal of Science winner (see list of National Medal of Science Winners)

The Literary World

Jacob Burck
- 1941 Pulitzer Prize winner for Editorial Cartooning (see list of Winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning)
Jacob Grimm (born 1785, died 1863)
German folklorist.
- Author of Little Red Riding Hood (see list of Authors of some of the most frequently banned books between 1990-99, in the United States)
- Wrote Grimm''s Fairy Tales with his brother Wilhelm (see list of Writers of the Romantic Period (1785-1830))
Jacob Plessy
Fictional character.
- A police officer in Stephen King''s novel Carrie (see list of Characters in Carrie)