Jacob, a variant of Iakob, comes from the Hebrew name Ya'aqov and could be derived from the Hebrew name Ya'aqov'el, meaning "may God protect," though the Old Testament defines the name as "holder of the heel" or "supplanter." Jacob has appeared in the Social Security Administration's top-400 for boy names every year since 1900 and spent 14 years as the No. 1 most popular boy's name in the U.S. between 1999 and 2012. It has now been a top-40 boy's name every year since 1983 and was the name country singer Carrie Underwood gave her son Jacob Bryan, born in 2019. It's also the name singer-songwriter Caitlyn Smith gave her son Jacob Roland, born in 2023.
