Jacob
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name, variant of Jakob.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Jacob (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Jacob has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 1998. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 456 |
| 1999 | 452 |
| 2000 | 404 |
| 2001 | 325 |
| 2002 | 456 |
| 2003 | 373 |
| 2004 | 321 |
| 2005 | 255 |
| 2006 | 239 |
| 2007 | 264 |
| 2008 | 195 |
| 2009 | 196 |
| 2010 | 200 |
| 2011 | 158 |
| 2012 | 165 |
| 2013 | 161 |
| 2014 | 152 |
| 2015 | 121 |
| 2016 | 140 |
| 2017 | 152 |
| 2018 | 151 |
| 2019 | 144 |
| 2020 | 120 |
| 2021 | 111 |
| 2022 | 95 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 5,865 |
| 2000 | 6,279 |
| 2001 | 6,631 |
| 2002 | 7,100 |
| 2003 | 7,528 |
| 2004 | 7,854 |
| 2005 | 8,128 |
| 2006 | 8,397 |
| 2007 | 8,663 |
| 2008 | 8,847 |
| 2009 | 9,040 |
| 2010 | 9,261 |
| 2011 | 9,416 |
| 2012 | 9,608 |
| 2013 | 9,792 |
| 2014 | 9,938 |
| 2015 | 10,056 |
| 2016 | 10,219 |
| 2017 | 10,407 |
| 2018 | 10,564 |
| 2019 | 10,726 |
| 2020 | 10,854 |
Jacob in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Jacob.Hi! My name is Jacob.
- Jacob har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Jacob has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Jacobs mamma är lärare.Jacob's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Jacobs mamma is Jacob's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Jacob
How do you pronounce Jacob in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Jacob in your device's Swedish voice. J is said like the English y.
What does the name Jacob mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name, variant of Jakob.
How popular is Jacob in Sweden?
95 babies were named Jacob in 2022. In 2020, 10,854 people in Sweden had Jacob as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 1998 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.