Jacob is a classic and popular boy name. It comes from the Old Testament and means “supplanter,” which is often interpreted as someone who seizes, circumvents, or usurps. In the book of Genesis, the twins Jacob and Esau were born to Isaac and Rebecca; Esau came first, making him the first-born son.
Jacob is the name of a biblical figure whose story is told in the book of Genesis, chapters 25 to 50. Jacob is the son of Isaac and Rebekah.
In the biblical story, Jacob was born holding his twin brother Esau’s heel. As a result, he was named “Jacob” (which translates to “heel-grabber”). He also had a third name: Israel (which translates to “wrestles with God”).
When he was still young, Jacob fled to his uncle Lavan’s house after his father Isaac tricked him out of his blessing. However, upon returning home years later, Jacob found that his brother Esau had married two women: Leah and Rachel. He then decided to marry them as well—and then also their maidservants Zilpah and Bilhah.
After years of living with these four wives and their twelve sons, one day while tending sheep, Jacob had a dream in which he saw angels ascending and descending a ladder that reached from earth to heaven. After sharing this dream with his family members, they all agreed that it meant that God would give them blessings if they would change their names from Laban (meaning “white”) and Lea (“light”) to Israel (meaning “he
