Jacob
Boy name · 4,434 babies recorded · 1974–2025
Jacob: 4,434 babies born in Scotland since 1974, given to boys, peaking at 287 births in 2016.
Jacob traces back to the Hebrew name Ya'akov, traditionally meaning "supplanter" or "holder of the heel" – a reference to the biblical patriarch who was born grasping his twin brother Esau's heel. The most famous bearer is that same Jacob, a central figure in Genesis whose twelve sons became the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel. In Scottish history, the name indirectly echoes through the Jacobite risings of the 17th and 18th centuries, which sought to restore the Stuart monarchy – though "Jacobite" derives from the Latin *Jacobus* for James
Boy 47 of 52 years
- Peak year
- 2016287 babies
- Latest (2025)
- #4598 babies
- Total births
- 4,434since 1974
- 5-year trend
- ▼ 43%vs prior 5y