Jakeb
A masculine name derived from the Hebrew name Jacob or James.
Name Census estimates that about 1,148 living Americans carry the first name Jakeb. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jakeb today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jakeb births was 1999 (74 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jakeb. 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.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 298,566 Americans
Peak year
1999
74 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2017 SSA rank
#13,079
Tracked since 1982
Census
Jakeb in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 963 people with the first name Jakeb, which placed it at #12,787 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#12,787
National first-name rank
People counted
963
963 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jakeb
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jakeb is White at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.8%) and Hispanic (5.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Jakeb described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Jakeb at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.7% · 825
- Two or more races5.8% · 56
- Hispanic or Latino5.1% · 49
- Black or African American1.3% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 8
Popularity
Jakeb: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jakeb from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 505 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jakeb 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 Jakeb during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jakebs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Texas, California, Indiana recorded the most babies named Jakeb, while Florida, Tennessee, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jakeb
The name Jakeb originates from the Hebrew language and culture, with its roots dating back to ancient times. It is a variation of the name Jacob, which is derived from the Hebrew word "Ya'aqov," meaning "supplanter" or "one who follows."
In the Old Testament of the Bible, Jacob was the son of Isaac and Rebekah, and the younger twin brother of Esau. He is an important figure in the book of Genesis, known for his struggle with God and for being the father of the twelve tribes of Israel.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jakeb can be found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of ancient Jewish manuscripts discovered in the Qumran Caves near the Dead Sea. These scrolls date back to the third century BCE and contain various spellings of the name, including "Yaqub" and "Yaqev."
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Jakeb. One of the earliest known was Jakeb ben Yaakov, a Jewish scholar and philosopher who lived in the 10th century CE in the city of Cordoba, Spain. He was known for his work in interpreting the Talmud and other Jewish texts.
Another prominent figure was Jakeb ben Asher, a 14th-century German rabbi and codifier of Jewish law, who authored the influential work "Arba'ah Turim" (Four Rows), which became a foundational text in the development of the Shulchan Aruch, the code of Jewish law.
In the realm of literature, Jakeb Grimmelshausen was a 17th-century German novelist and poet, best known for his picaresque novel "Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus" (The Adventurous Simplicissimus), which is considered a masterpiece of German literature.
In the world of art, Jakeb Jordaens was a 17th-century Flemish Baroque painter, known for his vibrant and dynamic works depicting religious and mythological subjects, as well as genre scenes and portraits.
Lastly, Jakeb Bohme was a 16th-century German mystic and philosophical writer, whose works, such as "Aurora" and "De Signatura Rerum," explored the nature of existence and the relationship between God and the universe.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Jakeb, a name with deep roots in the Hebrew culture and language, and a rich legacy spanning centuries.
People
Jakeb + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jakeb 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
Jakeb: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jakeb?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,148 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jakeb 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 298,566 US residents.
Is Jakeb a common name?
We classify Jakeb as "Rare". It ranks above 91% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,170 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jakeb most popular?
The single biggest year for Jakeb was 1999, when 74 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jakeb is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jakeb in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 963 people with the name Jakeb, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,787 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Jakeb in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Jakeb?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jakeb appears almost entirely male. Of the 962 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Jakeb?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jakeb is White at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.8%) and Hispanic (5.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Jakeb most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jakeb in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.7% (825 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Jakeb in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jakeb a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jakeb 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 Jakeb still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jakeb 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 Jakeb 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.
How many people are called Jakeb?
You can see how many people share the name Jakeb on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.