Jabob
A name of Hebrew origin meaning "he who supplants" or "holder of the heel".
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Jabob. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jabob today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jabob births was 2006 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jabob. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Jabob. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
2006
6 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2007 SSA rank
#13,122
Tracked since 2006
Popularity
Jabob: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Jabob by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Jabob during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 11 | 0 | 11 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Jabob
The name Jabob has its origins in the ancient Hebrew language and culture, dating back to biblical times. It is derived from the Hebrew word "Ya'aqov," which means "supplanter" or "one who follows at the heel." The name is closely associated with the biblical figure Jacob, one of the patriarchs of the Israelites and the father of the twelve tribes of Israel.
The name Jabob appears prominently in the Book of Genesis, where Jacob is described as the younger twin son of Isaac and Rebekah. According to the biblical narrative, Jacob was born holding onto the heel of his older twin brother, Esau, hence the meaning of his name. Jacob's story is central to the Abrahamic faiths and is revered in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Jabob can be found in the Hebrew Bible, which dates back to the 6th century BCE. Throughout history, the name has been used by various prominent figures, including Jacob ben Asher, a renowned 14th-century German Jewish scholar and codifier of Jewish law, who was born around 1269 CE and died in 1343 CE.
Another notable bearer of the name was Jacob Jordaens, a 17th-century Flemish painter and one of the leading Baroque artists in Antwerp, Belgium. He was born in 1593 and died in 1678. Jacob Bernoulli, a Swiss mathematician and physicist, is also remembered for his significant contributions to the development of calculus. He was born in 1654 and died in 1705.
In literature, the name Jabob is associated with Jacob Marley, the deceased business partner of Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens' famous novel "A Christmas Carol." The character serves as a warning to Scrooge about the consequences of greed and selfishness.
Another notable figure is Jacob Riis, a Danish-American social reformer and journalist who documented the living conditions of the poor in New York City through his groundbreaking work, "How the Other Half Lives." He was born in 1849 and died in 1914.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have borne the name Jabob, which has maintained its significance and cultural resonance across various traditions and societies.
People
Jabob + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jabob as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jabob: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jabob?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jabob going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Jabob a common name?
We classify Jabob as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jabob most popular?
The single biggest year for Jabob was 2006, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jabob is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Jabob in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jabob a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jabob in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Jabob still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jabob in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Jabob can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Jabob?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.