Jacob
From Namespedia - Names Meaning and Origins
Name: Jacob
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Asia
Thematic: Biblical
Meaning: Jacob was born holding his twin brother Esau's heel, and his name is explained as meaning "holder of the heel" or "supplanter". Other theories claim that it is in fact derived from a hypothetical name like יַעֲקֹבְאֵל (Ya'aqov'el) meaning "may God protect".
Comments: Jacob was the third Biblical patriarch, the son of Isaac and Rebecca and the grandson of Abraham and Sarah. He was the father of the twelve founders of the twelve tribes of Israel. The English name Jacob is derived from the Latin Jacobus, which is derived from the Greek Iakobos, which is in turn derived from the Hebrew Ya'qob. A famous bearer of the name was Jakob Grimm, who with his brother Wilhelm published the collection of German folk-tales now known as "Grimm's Fairy Tales".
Jacob nowadays is also pronounced jay cob (as in cob-ler)
