Recorded 1957–2025 · United States
Jakob was most popular in 2001, when 2,192 American babies were given the name — ranking #323 that year. In 2025 it ranked #2,881, with 135 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 31,959 people named Jakob.
Jakob first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1957, which makes it about 68 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 66 of the 69 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 31,959 American births named Jakob between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 31,325 are estimated to be alive today.
135 American babies were named Jakob in 2025, ranking #2,881 that year.
Jakob is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 205 births a year, against 711 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -71% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Jakob is a boy’s name — 0.0% of the 31,959 Americans given it were girls and 100.0% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 0% girls and 100% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 31,325 Americans named Jakob are alive today — 98% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 23 years old, and half are between 17 and 27. That is a narrow band: Jakob arrived and faded within about a decade rather than staying in steady use.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Jakob on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org