Jakob

maleHebrew, via German/Scandinavian transmission

A form of Jacob (or James) used across Germanic and Scandinavian languages, from the Hebrew Ya'akov.

Origin: Hebrew, via German/Scandinavian transmission

Official popularity data is available for 5 regions, from 1945 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #6 in Norway in 2022. See regions.

Jakob: Recorded every year since 1945, it reached #6 in 2019, and it was still inside the top 100 in 2025.

5registrars recorded it
133times a registrar ranked it
81years from first to last
#6highest recorded position
30groupings it qualifies for
39names it appears alongside

What stands out in Jakob's record

Ranked every year since 1945, without a single year missing. Names by continuity of record
Held a top-100 place for 32 years running. Names by top-100 run
Moved 128 places between two consecutive years — its largest recorded change. Names by largest single-year move
Appears alongside 39 other names across 5 kinds of recorded relationship. All recorded relationships

YAH-kop/ˈjɑː.kɔp/

Compare Jakob Run Name Checker on Jakob

Data Confidence

Evidence: ModerateCompleteness: SubstantialEditorial review: 2026-07-21

Confidence in the evidencebehind this name's data — never a rating of the name itself, and never affected by how well it matches your preferences. How this is assessed

Because: backed by officially or academically authoritative sources, recently verified, popularity data covers multiple regions.

Source authority

Averaged from the real per-claim source-authority assessments already computed for this name's meaning/origin/pronunciation/popularity evidence.

Independent corroboration

Averaged from the real per-claim supporting-source counts already computed for this name's evidence.

See full evidence assessment (8 dimensions, 1 not yet tracked)

Source agreement

No recorded source disagreement for this name's meanings or origins.

Recency

Calculated from how long ago this record was last verified (2026-07-21), against a 270-day staleness threshold.

Geographic relevance

Calculated from the number of geographies with official popularity data (5) — broader official coverage means the evidence base is relevant to more of where the name is actually used.

Completeness

Calculated from how many of the expected data sections (variants, similar names, popularity, notable usage, IPA pronunciation) are actually populated for this name.

Direct observation vs. inference

Averaged from the real per-claim direct-observation-vs-inference ratios already computed for this name's evidence.

Identity & variant resolution quality

Cross-source identity and variant resolution requires HEKNO Knowledge, which isn't connected yet.

Name Characteristics

How these are calculated

Descriptive attributes of the name itself — not a confidence measurement, and not an overall quality score. Namewise doesn't approve or disapprove of names.

Pronunciation clarity

Editorial judgement of how consistently this name is pronounced correctly on first read, mapped from an easy/moderate/variable rating to a number. Describes the name — not a measure of evidence confidence.

Spelling simplicity

Calculated directly from the name's spelling: shorter names with fewer irregular letter clusters score higher. A disclosed formula, not an editorial opinion — and not a confidence measurement.

Recorded regional spread

Derived from how many geographies' official statistics record this name. It measures where the name is registered, not how well-known it feels to people living there.

International spread

Derived from the same official statistical coverage, scaled to reflect how widely the name crosses national datasets. Not a measure of how easily it is understood in another language.

Trend stability

Derived from the name's traditional/modern classification and its current popularity trend direction.

Overview

Origin: Hebrew, via German/Scandinavian transmission
Meaning: A form of Jacob (or James) used across Germanic and Scandinavian languages, from the Hebrew Ya'akov.
Pronunciation: YAH-kop
Syllables: 2
Common nicknames: None recorded
Classification: Traditional & modern
Gender usage: male
Language family: Hebrew, via German/Scandinavian transmission

Popularity

Region

Falling

among boys in England and Wales · 1996–2025

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#341
1997	#315
1998	#345
1999	#375
2000	#287
2001	#347
2002	#298
2003	#320
2004	#384
2005	#388
2006	#404
2007	#458
2008	#465
2009	#494
2010	#433
2011	#449
2012	#419
2013	#388
2014	#463
2015	#445
2016	#482
2017	#606
2018	#486
2019	#674
2020	#821
2021	#729
2022	#746
2023	#1139
2024	#1402
2025	#1124

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Boys

Recorded in official data among boys in Norway in every year from 1945 to 2025.

In 2025: #9 among boys in Norway, #1124 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 5 national registrars across 5 regions, 1945–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1945
First recorded at #150 among boys in Norway in 1945 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Norway · Boys
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #1124 among boys in England and Wales, in 2025.
England and Wales · Boys

Jakob appears in 4 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is Norway · Boys, which has ranked it in 81 years beginning in 1945, and has registered 7,708 births with the name.

Jakob across 4 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Jakob's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
Norway · Boys	#150 (1945)	#6 (2019)	#9 (2025)	81 of 81	7,708 (1945–2025)	311 (2019)
England and Wales · Boys	#341 (1996)	#287 (2000)	#1124 (2025)	30 of 30	2,097 (1996–2025)	105 (2013)
Northern Ireland · Boys	#299 (2003)	#264 (2004)	#414 (2022)	7 of 20	26 (2003–2022)	6 (2014)
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#317 (2001)	#317 (2001)	#556 (2020)	14 of 20	56 (2001–2020)	6 (2009)

Jakob by decade in Norway · Boys

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Jakob in Norway · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1940s	150	5 of 10	30
1950s	180	10 of 10	18
1960s	164	10 of 10	16
1970s	166	10 of 10	17
1980s	215	10 of 10	22
1990s	861	10 of 10	86
2000s	1,929	10 of 10	193
2010s	2,513	10 of 10	251
2020sbusiest	1,530	6 of 10	255

Across Norway · Boys, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 6 years of it this list covers, averaging 255 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2019 and 2020, when recorded births fell by 82, from 311 to 229.

See the names Norwayhas recorded the most births with →

Jakob appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

What the record shows

Recorded by 5 registrars between 1945 and 2025, ranked in 81 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #6, first reached in 2019.

It held a top-100 place in 32 years, 32 of them consecutive.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 311 births, registered in Norway in 2019.

1 registrar ranked it inside their own top 10.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1996, and 58 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Jakob was ranked #6 in Norway · Boys in 2019. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Jak · #212, 30y
Jake · #7, 41y
Jakub · #57, 53y
Jalal · #1235, 30y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 5 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Annie · #8, 81y
Astrid · #9, 81y
Magnus · #3, 81y
Barbara · #10, 80y

Also first recorded in the 1940s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1940 and 1949.

Ada · #6, 76y
Aksel · #6, 81y
Berit · #6, 72y
Bjørg · #6, 70y

Comparisons involving Jakob

Existing comparison pages where Jakob and another name were ranked in the same published list, in the same years, on the same scale. Each has its own evidence; none of them says the names are alike.

Longest shared records

Names ranked alongside Jakob in the same published list across at least 25 years.

Anders vs Jakob
Anders and Jakob were both ranked in Norway · Boys for 81 years, from 1945 to 2025, ending at #293 and #9.
Anders · Jakob · 81 shared years, 1945–2025 · Longest-running competitions
See the 2025 Norway ranking
Andreas vs Jakob
Andreas and Jakob were both ranked in Norway · Boys for 81 years, from 1945 to 2025, ending at #96 and #9.
Andreas · Jakob · 81 shared years, 1945–2025 · Longest-running competitions
See the 2025 Norway ranking
Arne vs Jakob
Arne and Jakob were both ranked in Norway · Boys for 81 years, from 1945 to 2025, ending at #222 and #9.
Arne · Jakob · 81 shared years, 1945–2025 · Longest-running competitions
See the 2025 Norway ranking

Order changes

Pairs where Jakob and another name exchanged position in a published list, taken as the final meaningful change.

Elias vs Jakob
In 2023, Elias moved ahead of Jakob in Norway · Boys — #9 and #6 the year before became #3 and #21.
Elias · Jakob · 66 shared years, 1945–2025 · One moved ahead of the other
See the 2023 Norway ranking

Compared inside Norway lists

Pairs involving Jakob measured in Norway's own published lists — the registrar that recorded Jakob at its highest position.

Bjørn vs Jakob
Bjørn and Jakob were both ranked in Norway · Boys for 81 years, from 1945 to 2025, ending at #56 and #9.
Bjørn · Jakob · 81 shared years, 1945–2025 · Longest-running competitions
See the 2025 Norway ranking
Jakob vs Christian
Jakob and Christian were both ranked in Norway · Boys for 81 years, from 1945 to 2025, ending at #9 and #131.
Jakob · Christian · 81 shared years, 1945–2025 · Longest-running competitions
See the 2025 Norway ranking
Daniel vs Jakob
Daniel and Jakob were both ranked in Norway · Boys for 81 years, from 1945 to 2025, ending at #66 and #9.
Daniel · Jakob · 81 shared years, 1945–2025 · Longest-running competitions
See the 2025 Norway ranking

Norway overview→

Jakob and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,577 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Jakob without appearing here.

Jakob moved ahead of

Brendan
In 2024 they stood at #1402 and #1402 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2025 that had become #1124 and #1613.
Colin
In 2024 they stood at #1402 and #1000 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2025 that had become #1124 and #1538.
Mitchell
In 2024 they stood at #1402 and #968 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2025 that had become #1124 and #1538.
Tony
In 2024 they stood at #1402 and #847 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2025 that had become #1124 and #1466.

Moved ahead of Jakob

Kenneth Compare
In 2023 they stood at #1139 and #1207 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2024 that had become #1402 and #968.
Braxton
In 2011 they stood at #540 and #623 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 2012 that had become #718 and #324.
Emil Compare
In 2022 they stood at #746 and #784 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #1139 and #779.
Leif
In 2022 they stood at #746 and #967 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #1139 and #827.

Moved the opposite way to Jakob

Anders Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Boys, Jakob went from #150 to #9 while Anders went from #55 to #293.
Arild
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Boys, Jakob went from #150 to #9 while Arild went from #32 to #489.
Arne Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Boys, Jakob went from #150 to #9 while Arne went from #6 to #222.
Bjørn Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Boys, Jakob went from #150 to #9 while Bjørn went from #3 to #56.

Moved the same way as Jakob

Aksel Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Boys, Jakob went from #150 to #9 and Aksel from #174 to #25.
Alfred Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Boys, Jakob went from #150 to #9 and Alfred from #127 to #26.
Arthur
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Boys, Jakob went from #150 to #9 and Arthur from #153 to #83.
Elias Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Boys, Jakob went from #150 to #9 and Elias from #328 to #4.

Meaning & Origin

A form of Jacob (or James) used across Germanic and Scandinavian languages, from the Hebrew Ya'akov.

VerifiedSource: Behind the Name.Confidence: medium.

Hebrew, via German/Scandinavian transmission

VerifiedSource: Behind the Name.Confidence: medium.

Other names with a researched meaning and origin →

Where Jakob is officially recorded

5 official registrars have recorded Jakob, between 1945 and 2025. Each registrar publishes for its own population on its own methodology, so the positions below are each one country's own ranking and are not comparable with one another.

Registrar	Recorded	Years	Its own highest position
Norway	1945–2025	81	#6 in 2019
England and Wales	1996–2025	30	#287 in 2000
Republic of Ireland	2001–2020	14	#317 in 2001
New Zealand	2002	1	#100 in 2002
Northern Ireland	2003–2022	7	#264 in 2004

Its high point came 19 years earlier in England and Wales (2000) than in Norway (2019).

Variants

No spelling variants or nicknames recorded yet.

Similar Names

No similar names recorded yet for this name.

Similarity is a demonstration score — see methodology.

Spelling

Spelling simplicity

Calculated directly from the name's spelling — see Name Characteristics above.

No commonly used alternate spellings recorded.

Pronunciation

YAH-kop/ˈjɑː.kɔp/

Syllables: 2
Ease: easy

VerifiedSource: Behind the Name.Confidence: medium.

Where Jakob Is Recorded

National statistical agencies have recorded Jakob in these places. This shows where the name is used — not where it comes from, and not that it carries particular cultural significance there.

England and WalesNorthern IrelandRepublic of IrelandNorwayNew Zealand

Notable Usage

No safely-sourced notable usage recorded for this name yet.

Sibling & Surname Compatibility

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Full sibling-set and initials-across-a-shortlist matching is a planned premium feature — see Premium.

Jakob

Jakob at a glance

What stands out in Jakob's record

Overview

Popularity

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Jakob across 4 official records

Jakob by decade in Norway · Boys

Jakob appears in

What the record shows

Names published alongside Jakob

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1940s

Comparisons involving Jakob

Longest shared records

Order changes

Compared inside Norway lists

Jakob and the names beside it

Jakob moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Jakob

Moved the opposite way to Jakob

Moved the same way as Jakob

Meaning & Origin

Where Jakob is officially recorded

Variants

Similar Names

Spelling

Pronunciation

Where Jakob Is Recorded

Notable Usage

Sibling & Surname Compatibility

Jakob at a glance

What stands out in Jakob's record

Jakob across 4 official records

Jakob by decade in Norway · Boys

Jakob appears in

What the record shows

Names published alongside Jakob

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1940s

Comparisons involving Jakob

Longest shared records

Order changes

Compared inside Norway lists

Jakob and the names beside it

Jakob moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Jakob

Moved the opposite way to Jakob

Moved the same way as Jakob