How Many People Are Named Jacob?
An estimated 929,976 people in the United States have the first name Jacob, ranking it #29 among all first names. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 27 years old, and Jacob peaked in popularity in 1998 with 36,087 births that year. It has a similar number of bearers to Patricia (892,673).
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Jacob as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Jacob paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Jacob is overwhelmingly male, 2,305 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
929,976
About 1 in 369 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Very Common
Predicted Gender
Male
99.8% confidence
Average Age
27
years old
Peak Year
1998
36,087 births
Total Registered
984,245
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Jacob
Jacob is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 984,245 total births registered, 99.8% were male.
Jacob as a male name
Ranked #41 in 2024
6,496 male births in 2024
Peak: 1998 (36,027 births)
Jacob as a female name
Ranked #10,576 in 2024
9 female births in 2024
Peak: 2004 (171 births)
Jacob: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Jacob span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1990s, when 299,001 babies were registered. Jacob has declined significantly from its peak in the 1990s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Jacob by Decade
How has Jacob tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 3,566 | 3,566 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 2,551 | 2,551 | 0 | |
| 1900s | 2,191 | 2,191 | 0 | |
| 1910s | 8,699 | 8,684 | 15 | |
| 1920s | 9,067 | 9,047 | 20 | |
| 1930s | 5,281 | 5,264 | 17 | |
| 1940s | 4,853 | 4,853 | 0 | |
| 1950s | 5,405 | 5,400 | 5 | |
| 1960s | 5,085 | 5,080 | 5 | |
| 1970s | 36,561 | 36,355 | 206 | |
| 1980s | 124,958 | 124,263 | 695 | |
| 1990s | 299,001 | 298,410 | 591 | |
| 2000s | 274,587 | 274,064 | 523 | |
| 2010s | 163,452 | 163,266 | 186 | |
| 2020s | 38,988 | 38,946 | 42 | |
Jacob by State
Birth registrations for Jacob span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, New York. The lowest are in District of Columbia, Wyoming, Vermont. On average, about 19,060 Jacobs were registered per state.
Jacob + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Jacob as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Jacob
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
Jacob: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jacob?
We estimate approximately 929,976 people named Jacob are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 369 Americans share this first name.
Is Jacob a common name?
Jacob is classified as "Very Common" and is more popular than 100% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 984,245 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Jacob most popular?
Jacob reached peak popularity in 1998, when 36,087 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Jacob is approximately 27 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Jacob a male name?
Jacob is predominantly male. 99.8% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Jacob Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Jacob Smith, Jacob Johnson, Jacob Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
Search for a full name combination
How Many of Me