2000
#8,776
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,443
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.28
Rare Last name
Jacobi
Derived from the given name Jacob, meaning "supplanter" or "one who follows on the heels of another."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,916 Americans carry the last name Jacobi. That puts it at #9,175 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.14 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 87,527 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Jacobi surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Jacobi with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
3.9K
1 in 87,527
Census rank
#9,175
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,415 bearers of the surname Jacobi in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.14 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 9175th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Jacobi, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.7%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Jacobi
The surname Jacobi originated in Germany during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Hebrew name Jacob, which means "supplanter" or "one who follows." The name was widely adopted across Europe during the spread of Christianity.
Jacobi is a patronymic surname, meaning it was originally formed by adding a suffix to the given name Jacob to indicate "son of Jacob." In German, the suffix -i or -y was commonly used to create these surnames. Variations of the spelling include Jakobi, Jacoby, and Jacobs.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jacobi can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of medieval documents from the 13th century, which mentions a "Henricus Jacobi" in Saxony. The name also appears in church records and tax rolls from various regions of Germany during this time period.
In the 14th century, the surname Jacobi was associated with several notable individuals, including Johannes Jacobi, a German theologian and scholar who lived from 1305 to 1384, and Nicolaus Jacobi, a German astronomer and mathematician born in 1363.
During the Renaissance, the Jacobi name gained further prominence. One of the most famous bearers of the name was the German philosopher and mathematician Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi, who lived from 1804 to 1851 and made significant contributions to the fields of mathematics and theoretical physics.
Other notable individuals with the surname Jacobi include the German novelist and dramatist Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi (1743-1819), the Swiss-German philosopher and theologian Friedrich Justin Jacobi (1743-1819), and the German painter and printmaker Otto Jacobi (1803-1855).
In the 19th century, the Jacobi surname spread to other parts of Europe and beyond, with individuals bearing the name leaving their mark in various fields, such as the German-American composer Frederick Jacobi (1891-1952) and the Russian-American physicist Boris Jacobi (1892-1973).
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jacobi
Among Census respondents with the surname Jacobi, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.7%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Jacobi bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Jacobi surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.7% · 3,099
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 160
- Two or more races2.8% · 96
- Black or African American0.9% · 31
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Jacobi
Jacobi appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#9,161
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,563
+120 bearers (+3.5%)
Per 100,000 1.21
Rank movement Down 385 places
2020
#9,175
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,415
-148 bearers (-4.2%)
Per 100,000 1.14
Rank movement Down 14 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #8,776 | 3,443 | 1.28 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #9,161 | 3,563 | 1.21 | +120 bearers (+3.5%) | Down 385 places |
| 2020 | #9,175 | 3,415 | 1.14 | -148 bearers (-4.2%) | Down 14 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Jacobi surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #9,161 | #9,175 | -0.2% |
| Count | 3,563 | 3,415 | -4.2% |
| Per 100K | 1.21 | 1.14 | -5.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Jacobi bearers went from 3,563 to 3,415 (-4.2% change). The surname moved down 14 positions in the national ranking, going from #9,161 to #9,175.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Jacobi
FAQ
Jacobi surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Jacobi?
Name Census estimates that about 3,916 living Americans carry the surname Jacobi. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 87,527 residents.
How common is Jacobi?
Jacobi ranks #9,175 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.14 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 3,415 people with the surname Jacobi. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,916), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.14 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.14 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Jacobi.
Has Jacobi become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Jacobi went from 3,563 recorded bearers to 3,415. That is a decrease of 148 (-4.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #9,161 to #9,175.
What does the Census say about the background of Jacobi?
Among Census respondents with the surname Jacobi, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.7%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Jacobi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.7% (3,099 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Jacobi appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.7%), Hispanic (4.7%), Two or More Races (2.8%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Jacobi (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Jacobi mean?
Derived from the given name Jacob, meaning "supplanter" or "one who follows on the heels of another." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Jacobi (1.14 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Jacobi?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.