The name Jacobi is a masculine given name derived from the Hebrew name Ya'aqov, meaning "supplanter" or "one who follows". It is the Latinized form of the biblical name Jacob, which is found in the Book of Genesis. The name was originally used by the ancient Israelites and later spread across the Mediterranean region.

In the Middle Ages, the name Jacobi became popular in various European cultures, particularly in Italy, where it was sometimes spelled as Jacopo or Iacopo. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name was Jacobi de Voragine, an Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa, who lived from around 1230 to 1298.

During the Renaissance period, the name Jacobi gained prominence among intellectuals and artists. One notable figure was Jacobi Sannazaro, an Italian poet and humanist born in 1458, known for his work "Arcadia". Another was Jacobi Robusti, also known as Tintoretto, an Italian Renaissance painter born in 1518 and renowned for his masterpieces in Venice.

In the scientific realm, the name Jacobi is associated with Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi, a German mathematician born in 1804, who made significant contributions to the field of elliptic functions and differential equations. Additionally, Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, a German philosopher born in 1743, was notable for his critique of Kant's philosophy and his development of the concept of "faith."

In literature, Jacobi was the name of a character in William Shakespeare's play "Cymbeline," written around 1610. The play explores themes of love, loyalty, and deception, with Jacobi serving as a minor character.

Other notable individuals with the name Jacobi include Moritz von Jacobi, a German engineer and pioneer in the field of electroplating, born in 1801, and Victor Jacobi, a German-American playwright and novelist born in 1839, known for his works exploring the lives of immigrants in America.