THE MEANING & THE CONTEXT
The story behind Jacob
Jacob descends from Hebrew Ya'aqov through Greek and Latin. The biblical explanation connects it with holding a heel and supplanting, while another etymological proposal connects it with divine protection. These explanations should not be presented as one certain literal translation.
The etymology is not settled. The explanation above keeps the source’s uncertainty rather than assigning a definite meaning.
A PLACE IN THE 2024 RECORDS
The Philippine picture
PSA counts exact spelling matches. This figure is not a count of all people with the name, and does not include related spellings.
See the full top ten ↗THE PUBLISHED SNAPSHOTS
A few years in the records
| Year | Registered births | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2,164 | #1 |
| 2022 | 1,781 | #2 |
| 2023 | 1,649 | #3 |
| 2024 | 1,405 | #6 |
Each linked year has its own source and reporting scope. A gap means no count is shown here, not zero births. No 2021 count is plotted.
Related forms & spellings
Related forms may have their own language histories. They are not included in this spelling’s PSA count.
Follow the sources
- Brown–Driver–Briggs Hebrew Lexicon: Yaaqob (opens in a new tab)
Biblical heel explanation and discussion of obscure older name formations
- Behind the Name: Jacob (opens in a new tab)
Hebrew origin and competing etymological explanations
- Philippine Statistics Authority — Most Common Baby Names of 2024 (opens in a new tab)
2024 registered-birth count and rank; exact spelling.