Jacobo is the Spanish form of Jacob, from the Hebrew Ya'aqov, traditionally explained as "holder of the heel" or "supplanter", after the biblical patriarch who was born grasping his twin Esau's heel. In Spanish the same root also produced Santiago, Diego and Jaime, so Jacobo is the most scholarly of the family. In the United States Jacobo has hovered between number 1500 and 2100 for two decades, peaking at number 1505 in 2003 and standing at number 1982 in 2025.