How rare is the name Yaakov?

4,229 people in the United States have the first name Yaakov, about 1 in 71,419. It ranks #4,428 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

YAAKOV

#4,428

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
4,229
About
1 in 71,419
This common or more
84%
Who bears it

Of the 4,229 people named Yaakov, 96.8% reported their origin as White and 1.6% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are male (100%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Yaakov peaked in 2021, when 237 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19482025
Peak year
2021
Births that year
237
In 2025*
218 ▼8%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 5,991 babies have been given the name since 1948. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Yaakov by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2020s, when it ranked #2,110. The largest share of babies named Yaakov, 42.5%, were born in 2013 or later.

1940s#11,8886
1950s#7,56359
1960s#7,07785
1970s#4,538260
1980s#2,942624
1990s#3,226752
2000s#2,9851,170
2010s#2,4291,728
2020s#2,1101,307
Baby boom 1946–641.5%
Generation X 1965–806%
Millennials 1981–9617.9%
Generation Z 1997–1232.1%
2013 and later42.5%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Yaakov is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Yaakov has been most common in New Jersey (13×), New York (7.2×), and Maryland (2.3×), and least common in Illinois (0.17×).

5,095 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Exactly as common as Yaakov

1 other first name also has 4,229 people.

#4,428 Candis · 4,229

Either side of Yaakov

#4,427 Ayleen · 4,231#4,428 Candis · 4,229#4,430 Shmuel · 4,228#4,431 Immanuel · 4,225

Spelled almost the same

2 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Yaakov, most common first.

#4,336 Yakov · 4,358#29,211 Yaacov · 304

Compare