Find out how popular the last name Jacobus is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Jacobus.

Jacobus, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Jacobus surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Jacobus in America

Jacobus is the 12900th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Jacobus surname appeared 2,383 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Jacobus.

We can also compare 2010 data for Jacobus to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Jacobus

The surname Jacobus is an English derivative of the biblical name Jacob, which has its origins in the Hebrew name Ya'aqov. It is believed to have emerged as a surname in England during the Middle Ages, particularly in the 13th and 14th centuries.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Jacobus can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire from 1166, where a man named Robert Jacobus is mentioned. This suggests that the surname was already in use by that time.

The Jacobus surname is thought to have originated from the practice of using patronymics, which were names derived from the given name of the father or ancestor. In this case, Jacobus likely indicated that the bearer was the son or descendant of a man named Jacob.

The surname is also found in various forms throughout historical records, such as Jacobs, Jacobson, and Jacobitz, reflecting different regional variations and spellings.

One notable individual with the surname Jacobus was Oliverius Jacobus, a 13th-century clergyman who served as the Bishop of Angers in France from 1234 to 1236. Another early example is Sir John Jacobus, a knight mentioned in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire from 1279.

In the 16th century, the Jacobus surname appears in the records of St. Mary's Church in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England, where several individuals with this name were baptized, married, or buried between 1538 and 1598.

The Jacobus surname has also been associated with various place names, such as Jacobstowe in Devon, England, which was formerly known as "Jacobstow" in the Domesday Book of 1086. This suggests a possible connection between the surname and specific locations.

Other notable individuals with the Jacobus surname include:

1. Melchior Jacobus (1572-1634), a Dutch theologian and academic.
2. Ludovicus Jacobus (1598-1670), a Dutch jurist and diplomat.
3. Thomas Jacobus (1664-1724), an English mathematician and astronomer.
4. John Jacobus (1805-1877), an American clergyman and author.
5. Mary Parker Jacobus (1842-1907), an American educator and author.

While the Jacobus surname has its roots in England, it has since spread to various parts of the world, particularly through migration and settlement patterns.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Jacobus

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Jacobus.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Jacobus was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Jacobus has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Jacobus was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Jacobus, please contact us.

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