Jacob

The name traces to the ancient linguistic root Ya'aqov, traditionally translated as one who follows at the heel. It moved into wider English circulation through Late Latin Jacobus following fourteenth-century manuscript translations. The name registered steadily across nineteenth- and twentieth-century America before an unprecedented climb toward the top began in the late nineteen-nineties.

The name reads as late-nineties standard issue, firmly linked to cargo shorts, nylon soccer bags, and cafeteria milk cartons. With an average bearer age of twenty-six, it currently occupies the space between finishing a degree and purchasing a first lawnmower. A Jacob tends to be pictured holding a half-empty sports bottle and waiting calmly for a ride that was scheduled fifteen minutes ago. It spent fourteen years at number one nationally, largely by declining to offend anyone on either side of the family tree.