Jacques
Meaning
“French form of Jacob, traditionally supplanter”
Say it: ZHAHK
Famously borne by Jacques Cousteau, co-inventor of the Aqua-Lung and the man who showed the world the ocean floor.
Jacques around the world
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
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Jacques peaked in the 1970s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
2,293 people · the #4,657 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 90,909 · median age 45
Among people named Jacques living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1970s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Jacques
Most people given the name Jacques in the United States were born between 1960 and 2009. The Jacques you meet today is most often in his 30s or 40s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Jacques deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Jacques 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 Jacques fits with your family’s names and surname.
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