Yaqub

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 names spelled this way◐

Yaqub is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate given name11K records spelled Yaqub2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, Pakistan, Ethiopia

  Also written Yaqūb

• Hindi given name953 records spelled Yaqub48 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, Nigeria, Indonesia, United States

  Languages: Hindi, English, Telugu

  Also written Yakub, Iyakub, ইয়াকুব, Jakub, Ya'Kub

• French given name353 records spelled Yaqub3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, India

  Also written Yaqûb

31 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Yaqub is also recorded in 3 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In German, männl. Vom., arabische Form (Ya‘qüb) von

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

• In Arabic, (ya‘qoob): a Prophet, the biblical Jacob, son of Prophet Ishaq. Ls Ulsan YS, Gotery Glaus! at Lua, "We bestowed on him (Ibrahim) Ishaq (as a son) and Yaqub [as a grandson] and each one of them We made a Prophet." (surat Maryam 19:49)

  as a name·A Dictionary of Muslim Names

• In Azerbaijani, a male given name from Arabic يَعْقُوب (yaʕqūb) [in turn from Classical Syriac ܝܥܩܘܒ, in turn from Hebrew יעקב], equivalent to English Jacob or James

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

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) — 26 years between 2000–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Abu Yusufb. 731IQnot in their usual nameArab Muslim Scholar and jurist (died 798)
• Al-Kindib. 801IQnot in their usual nameMuslim Arab philosopher, mathematician and physician (c.801–873)
• Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansurb. 1160MARuler of the Almohad Caliphate from 1184 to 1199
• Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Abd Al-Haqqb. 1212MAMarinid Sultan of Algeria (r. 1258–1286)
• Al-Mustamsikb. 1470EGnot in their usual name16th Caliph of Cairo
• Jacob Frankb. 1726UAnot in their usual namePolish-Jewish religious leader
• Yakub Begb. 1820UZnot in their usual nameKing of Kashgaria (1820–1877)
• Mohammad Yaqub Khanb. 1849AFEmir of Afghanistan during 1879 (1849–1923)
• Yakov Ganetskyb. 1879PLnot in their usual nameSoviet politician (1879-1937)
• Yakub Kolasb. 1882BYnot in their usual nameBelarusian writer (1882–1956)

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 · 143 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Yaqub?

We estimate roughly 760 people bear Yaqub (counting its spellings and scripts) across 7 countries in our records.

In which country does Yaqub have the most bearers?

Yaqub is most frequently recorded in Palestine, where it is most often spelled yaqub.

How common is Yaqub compared with other names?

In Palestine, Yaqub is the 41st most common given name of 5,190 given names recorded there.

Is Yaqub a male or female name?

Yaqub 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 Yaqub mean?

Recorded meaning: Jacob; Tanzanian spellings Yakobo and Yakoub.