Boys' name · peaked in 2001
Jakob name popularity since 1925
31,959 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Jakob. Half of them were born in 2003 or earlier, so the typical Jakob is about 23 years old in 2026. Jakob peaked in 2001 as the #172 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 31,959
- Named Jakob, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,372 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 100.0% boys
- 0 girls · 31,959 boys
- Most popular in
- Oregon
- 1.90× its national share
Peak year is the year Jakob made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Jakob births per year, 1925–2025
2001 was the biggest year for Jakob both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1993 and 1998, Jakob became 3.8× more common, from 1 in 4,030 baby boys to 1 in 1,070.
- Steepest fall: Between 2001 and 2006, its share of baby boys fell by 50%, from 1 in 886 to 1 in 1,770.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Jakob's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Jakob.
Decade by decade
Babies named Jakob in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1940s | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1950s | 19 | Under 5 |
| 1960s | 42 | Under 5 |
| 1970s | 288 | #1,605 |
| 1980s | 1,214 | #1,002 |
| 1990s | 8,163 | #407 |
| 2000s | 14,765 | #275 |
| 2010s | 6,189 | #525 |
| 2020–25 | 1,279 | #1,372 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 boys got the name.
Generation fingerprint
70.0% of babies named Jakob from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen Z years (1997–2012). The full split by generation:
Where Jakob is most popular
The index compares Jakob's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Jakob.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Oregon | 1.90× | 540 |
| Washington | 1.87× | 946 |
| Arizona | 1.85× | 724 |
| Colorado | 1.80× | 673 |
| Utah | 1.72× | 443 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Jakob and were given to at least 1,000 boys from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Boys | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Jakob (this page) | 31,959 | 2001 |
| Jacob | 966,119 | 1998 |
| Jakub | 3,067 | 2008 |
| Jakeb | 1,170 | 1999 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Jakob's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Jakob.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Jakob (2001).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data