Jacob comes from the Hebrew Ya'aqov and is traditionally explained as "holder of the heel" or "supplanter", because the biblical Jacob was born grasping his twin Esau's heel and later took his birthright. As the father of the twelve tribes of Israel he is one of the great patriarchs. Jacob was the most popular boys' name in the United States for fourteen straight years, from 1999 to 2012, and was still number four in 2015; it has since dropped to number 43 in 2025.