Jacobus

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 19 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other recorded senses●

Jacobus is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Dutch, a male given name, the Latinized form of Jacob

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, Le jacobus, monnaie d’or frappée sous le roi d’Angleterre Jacques I er , avait à peu près la même valeur que la guinée. Voir Guinée .

  as a name·2500 noms propres devenus communs : dictionnaire étymologique (éponymes, antonomases et hypallages)

• In German, from Hebrew yaʿaqōb 'supplanter'

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• In German, from Hebr. 'heel-holder'

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• In German, patronymisch zu Jakob/Jacob; Belege: Jacob, Jakob, Jacobsen, Jacobs, Jeschke, Jäschke, Jaschke, Jeske, Jaske, Köpke, Kupke, Mainka, Kupka, Pelka, Mika, Köppel, Buresch, Bartesch, Kubesch, Janesch, Jungjohann, Altpeter, Langheinrich, Venjakob, Oberpaul, Jacobi, Jacoby

  as a name·Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 6: Familiennamen aus Rufnamen

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 25 years between 1979–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Jakob Fuggerb. 1459DEnot in their usual nameGerman merchant (1459-1526)
• Jacobus Kapteynb. 1851NLDutch astronomer, best known for his extensive studies of the Milky Way and as the first discoverer of evidence for galactic rotation (1851-1922)
• Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoffb. 1852NLDutch physical and organic chemist (1852-1911)
• Jacobus Oudb. 1890NLDutch architect (1890–1963)
• Bertus Aafjesb. 1914NLnot in their usual nameDutch poet and writer (1914–1993)
• Jamie Uysb. 1921ZAnot in their usual nameSouth African film director, film producer, screenwriter and film editor (1921-1996)
• Rinus Michelsb. 1928NLnot in their usual nameDutch footballer and manager (1928–2005)
• Johan Neeskensb. 1951NLnot in their usual nameDutch football manager and player (1951–2024)
• Armin van Buurenb. 1976NLnot in their usual nameDutch DJ and record producer (born 1976)
• Jasper Cillessenb. 1989NLnot in their usual nameDutch association football player (born 1989)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 126 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Jacobus?

We estimate roughly 183 thousand people bear Jacobus (counting its spellings and scripts) across 9 countries in our records.

In which country does Jacobus have the most bearers?

We estimate about 182 thousand people bear Jacobus in the Netherlands, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled jacobus.

Where is Jacobus most common?

Jacobus is densest in the Netherlands, where the national register counts about 1 in 95 people carrying it.

How common is Jacobus compared with other names?

In the Netherlands, Jacobus is the 18th most common given name of 134,847 given names recorded there.

Is Jacobus a male or female name?

Jacobus is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Jacobus mean?

Recorded meaning: A former English gold coin from the Jacobite period.