US baby names · Boys · 1880–2025
Jacob: name popularity by year
How often US parents chose Jacob for a baby boy, year by year, from Social Security Administration records. When it peaked, how long it stayed in the top 10, and which generation it belongs to.
Jacob was one of the 10 most common boys' names in the US in 25 years, between 1993 and 2017, and the #1 name in 14 of them. Births peaked in 1998, when 36,031 baby boys were named Jacob, so by peak year it is a Generation Z name.
Jacob in the US top 10, by year
Rank among boys' names, #1 at the top. Blank years: outside the top 10. Dashed line: the year with the most babies named Jacob (1998).
Top-10 years by generation
| Generation | Years in top 10 | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| Millennials | 4 (1993–1996) | #3 |
| Generation Z | 13 (1997–2009) | #1 |
| Generation Alpha | 8 (2010–2017) | #1 |
Questions people ask
When was the name Jacob most popular?
By number of babies, in 1998, when 36,031 boys were given the name. By rank, it was #1 in 14 years and spent 25 years in the top 10.
What generation is the name Jacob?
Its peak year, 1998, falls in Generation Z (1997–2009). Its 25 top-10 years fall in: Millennials (4), Generation Z (13), Generation Alpha (8).
How many people have been named Jacob?
SSA counted 988,227 boys named Jacob born from 1880 to 2025. That is births, not people alive today, and it misses many people born before 1937 who never applied for a Social Security card.
In the top 10 at the same time
Source: US Social Security Administration baby-name data, from Social Security card applications for births in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1880–2025. Many people born before 1937 never applied for a card, so early years undercount. Spellings are counted separately. We hold each year's top 10 in rank order and each name's peak-year and all-time counts, so the chart shows rank rather than births per year. This page gives no meaning or origin for the name and no estimate of how many people named Jacob are alive today.