Jacob Family History
Jacob Name Meaning
Jewish, English, German, Portuguese, French, Dutch, and southern
Indian: derivative, via Latin Jacobus, from the Hebrew personal
name ya‘aqobh (Yaakov). In the Bible, this is the name
of the younger twin brother of Esau (Genesis 25:26), who took
advantage of the latter’s hunger and impetuousness to persuade him to
part with his birthright ‘for a mess of potage’. The name is
traditionally interpreted as coming from Hebrew akev ‘heel’,
and Jacob is said to have been born holding on to Esau’s heel. In
English Jacob and James are now regarded as quite
distinct names, but they are of identical origin (see James),
and in most European languages the two names are not distinguished.
It is used as a given name among Christians in India, and in the
U.S. has come to be used as a surname among families from southern
India.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
833,834
Historical Documents & Family Trees with Jacob
Name Distribution of Jacob Families
MAP:
United States
England & Wales
Scotland
Number of Jacob families
 244 - 485  82 - 243 |
 1 - 81  |
from the 1920 US Federal Census Data
Number of Jacob families
|
369 - 736 124 - 368 |
1 - 123 |
from the 1891 England and Wales Census Data
Number of Jacob families
|
11 - 19 4 - 10 |
1 - 3 |
from the 1891 Scotland Census Data
Jacob census records
You can see how Jacob families moved over time by selecting different Census years.
Census records can tell you little-known facts about your ancestors such as birthplace, occupation and value of personal estate.
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Jacob Family Origin
Jacob Immigration Information
Click on a circle in the chart to view Jacob immigration records
You can find out when most of the Jacob families immigrated
to the United States.
You can focus your search to immigration records dating from that era.
Immigration records can tell you an ancestor's name, ship name, port of departure,
port of arrival and destination.
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from the New York Passenger Lists
Average Life Expectancy for Jacob
Click on a circle in the chart to view Jacob birth and death records
An unusually short lifespan might indicate that your ancestors lived in harsh conditions.
A short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in
your family.
The SSDI is a searchable database of more than 70 million names. You can find birthdates,
death dates, addresses and more.
View all Jacob ancestors in the SSDI >
from the Social Security Death Index (SSDI)
Jacob Family Occupations
from 1880 Federal Census Data
Jacob census records
Census records can offer a lot of little known facts about your Jacob ancestors, such as occupation.
Occupation can tell you about your ancestors' social status and economic status.
View all Jacob census records >
Jacob Civil War Service Records
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