Jacobo
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Meaning
“Spanish form of Jacob, explained in Genesis as 'supplanter' or 'held by the heel'; scholars now favor 'may God protect'”
The story
Jacobo is one node in Spanish's most productive name family: from the Latin Iacobus come Jacobo, Jaime and Yago, and with a saint's title fused on came Santiago, which later split off Tiago. Diego may belong to the same branch, but its route is disputed. The Hebrew original is explained in Genesis as holder of the heel, or supplanter, though scholars now prefer a reading closer to may God protect, and the references keep all three on the table. Bearers run from Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart, seventeenth Duke of Alba, diplomat, art collector and Olympic medalist, to Jacobo Árbenz, who won Guatemala's presidency with more than 60 percent in a largely free and fair election in 1950. The American record climbs gently: 487 boys in the 1990s, 802 in the 2010s. A family of many Iberian faces, with Jacobo the one closest to the Latin.
Jacobo across languages
One shared root links 18 names across 5 languages.
Shared root: from Hebrew Ya'aqov, traditionally "holder of the heel, supplanter"; Late Latin split it into Jacobus and Iacomus, giving Europe both Jacob and James
The constellation
12 more branches of this family
How popular is Jacobo around the world?
In the United States, 552 babies were named Jacobo between 2020 and 2025. In Spain, 10,308 residents are named Jacobo, the 252nd most common name among men, with a mean age of 30.4 years.
Jacobo is on the official records of the United States, Spain, Mexico City, Chile, Argentina, Canada and Brazil.
United States
1 in 39,000
In the United States, 552 babies were named Jacobo between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Jacobo peaked in the 2000s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Spain
1 in 4,400
In Spain, 10,308 residents are named Jacobo, the 252nd most common name among men, with a mean age of 30.4 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Mexico City City
1 in 4,500
In Mexico City, there were 26 registrations of Jacobo in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Chile
1 in 22,000
In Chile, 8 boys were registered as Jacobo in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
share of that year’s name registrations
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Argentina
1 in 30,000
In Argentina, 22 newborns were given the name Jacobo in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Canada
1 in 61,000
In Canada, 6 boys named Jacobo were born in 2024, ranked 2,855th among boys that year.
The count never rose above 9 in a year, too few to chart.
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 46 people in Brazil were named Jacobo, ranked 70,533rd, with a median age of 34.
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
England and Wales
last on record 2024
Jacobo is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Montevideo City
last on record 1999
Jacobo is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Poland
last on record 2016
Jacobo is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
South Australia
last on record 2012
Jacobo is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand and Scotland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Jacobo
Most people given the name Jacobo in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Jacobo deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Jacobo truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Jacobo fits with your family’s names and surname.
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