Jacob at a glance
- Meaning
- “holder of the heel”
- Gender
- Boy
- Origin
- Hebrew
- Pronunciation
- JAY-kub
- Nicknames
- Jake
- Other forms
- Jakob, Jacques, Giacomo, Yaakov
Where the name Jacob comes from
In the Bible, Jacob is born holding the heel of his twin brother Esau, and the name is linked to the Hebrew word for “heel”. It can also be understood as “one who takes another’s place”. The name James comes from the same source.