UK boy's name
Yakob
A masculine given name of Hebrew origin meaning "supplanter".
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2016. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Yakob is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Yakob popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2016 in this profile. In that release it ranked #4810, with 3 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2009, with 3 births.
This profile covers 6 England and Wales registrations across 2 recorded years from 2009 to 2016. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 100% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 6 living people in the UK are called Yakob. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2017 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Yakob ranked #4810 for boys in England and Wales in 2016, with 3 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 2009, when 3 boys were registered as Yakob.
- • About 6 living people in the UK are estimated to have Yakob as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#4810
2016
Births in 2016
3
Latest year
Peak year
2009
3 births
Estimated living
6
2026
Meaning
What does Yakob mean?
The given name Yakob is derived from the Hebrew name Ya'aqov, which is a biblical name from the Old Testament. The name Ya'aqov is translated as "supplanter" or "holder of the heel" and is associated with the story of Jacob from the Book of Genesis. Jacob was the son of Isaac and Rebekah, and the younger twin brother of Esau.
The name Yakob is the Slavic form of the name Jacob, which is the English translation of the Hebrew Ya'aqov. The name was introduced to Slavic cultures through the influence of Christianity and the translation of the Bible into various Slavic languages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Yakob can be found in the Slavonic Menologion, a medieval Slavic manuscript from the 11th century. The name appears in the entry for Saint Yakob the Confessor, a monk who lived in the 6th century.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures with the name Yakob. One of the most famous is Yakob Smirnov (1452-1541), a Russian icon painter and founder of the Stroganov School of icon painting. Another notable figure is Yakob Grimm (1785-1863), a German philologist who, along with his brother Wilhelm, was responsible for collecting and publishing the famous Grimms' Fairy Tales.
In the 19th century, there was Yakob Mikhaylovich Gordins (1826-1875), a Russian physician and pioneer in the field of public health. He was instrumental in establishing the first public health system in Russia.
In the 20th century, one notable figure with the name Yakob was Yakob Zeldovich (1914-1987), a Soviet physicist who made significant contributions to the fields of cosmology, nuclear physics, and astrophysics. He was a leading figure in the development of the Soviet nuclear program.
Another prominent individual with the name Yakob was Yakob Levi-Montalcini (1912-2012), an Italian neurologist and Nobel laureate. She received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1986 for her work on nerve growth factor.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Yakob, a name with deep roots in biblical tradition and Slavic culture.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Yakob over time
The chart below shows babies named Yakob registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 2009 to 2016. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Yakob, the clearest high point is 2009. The latest England and Wales figure is 3 births in 2016, compared with 3 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yakob by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Yakob was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | #4810 | 3 | 1 |
| 2000s | #4527 | 3 | 1 |
Related
Names similar to Yakob
- Yusuf 11,801
- Yahya 5,758
- Yunus 2,009
- Yaseen 1,799
- Yasin 1,797
- Yuvraj 1,605
- Yaqub 1,517
- Yousef 1,489
- Yousuf 1,454
- Yasir 1,056
- Yash 876
- Youssef 749
FAQ
Yakob: questions and answers
How popular is the name Yakob in the UK right now?
In 2016, Yakob was ranked #4810 for boys in England and Wales, with 3 births registered.
When was Yakob most popular?
The peak year on record was 2009, with 3 babies registered as Yakob in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Yakob?
A masculine given name of Hebrew origin meaning "supplanter".
How many people are called Yakob in the UK?
A total of 6 babies have been registered as Yakob across the 2 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.