Jake

יַעֲקֹב

• Gender: Male
• Origin: Biblical English
• Meaning: heel, follower

• Jake is the effortless cool-guy alter ego of the great patriarch Jacob. Where Jacob conjures images of wrestling angels and founding a nation, Jake strips all of that down to a single, punchy syllable that feels approachable and refreshingly unfussy. It first surged in the nineties and has proven to be far more than a passing trend, earning a permanent spot among the sturdiest names in the English-speaking world.

  Jake Gyllenhaal, whose mother is Jewish, has kept this name at the intersection of cool and credible for two decades of Hollywood stardom. It pairs beautifully with longer middle names and carries an easygoing confidence that translates across every stage of life. All the patriarchal gravitas of Jacob, none of the formality — just one syllable doing a lot of heavy lifting.

• Hebrew Equivalent:
  Yaakov
• Potential Sibling Name:
  Abby
  ,
  Ruth
  ,
  Ben
  ,
  Sam