Jacob

Jacob is the English and Dutch form of the Latin Iacobus, itself derived from the Greek Iakobos, which is a rendering of the Hebrew name Yaakov. The Hebrew root is traditionally connected to the word for heel, reflecting the biblical account in Genesis where Jacob was born grasping the heel of his twin brother Esau, though some scholars link it to a related root meaning to follow or supplant. Jacob is one of the great patriarchal figures of the Hebrew Bible, later renamed Israel, making him the legendary ancestor of the twelve tribes. Closely related forms include James, which descends from the same Latin source through a different phonetic path, as well as Jacques, Jacobus, Jakob, Jakov, and Yakov.