Jacob in Arabic is يعقوب (Yaʿqūb), the patriarch Jacob of the Quran and the Arabic Bible alike, and an Arabic name today. For an English speaker named Jacob, Arabic usually writes the sound, جاكوب (Jakob), though Arabic Wikipedia is not consistent, as the table further down shows.
Copy the form you need. The Listen button reads each spelling in your device's Arabic voice, if it has one, so you can hear how يعقوب and جاكوب differ.
| Use it for | Copy this | Transliteration | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Arabic form of the name, in the Quran and the Arabic Bible alike | يعقوب | Yaʿqūb | |
| The English name Jacob, spelled by its sound | جاكوب | Jakob |
Jacob in Arabic calligraphy, in three styles
Renders of يعقوب and جاكوب, in Amiri, Katibeh and Alkalami, drawn straight from the font files.
يعقوب or جاكوب: which spelling should you use?
Use يعقوب for the name itself and for Arabic speakers named Yaʿqūb. For a modern Jacob, the titles vary: جاكوب and جيكوب for English speakers, ياكوب for the German Jacob Grimm, and يعقوب for the Swiss mathematician Jacob Bernoulli. James comes from the same Hebrew name, and Arabic gives it the same يعقوب: see James in Arabic.
| Spelling | Who uses it | Source |
|---|---|---|
| يعقوب | Muslims and Arab Christians: the patriarch Jacob | Quran 2:132; Arabic Wikipedia, يعقوب |
| جاكوب | Arabic writing the English name Jacob by its sound, for an English speaker | our name tool, from Arabic Wikipedia |
How Arabic Wikipedia writes people called Jacob
For the patriarch Jacob, Arabic Wikipedia uses the Arabic form. For the four modern people called Jacob in the table below, its titles write يعقوب once, ياكوب once, جيكوب once and جاكوب once. Our name tool gives جاكوب, a spelling taken from Arabic Wikipedia.
| Person or work | Arabic Wikipedia title | First name as written |
|---|---|---|
| Jacob Bernoulli | يعقوب برنولي | يعقوب |
| Jacob Grimm | ياكوب غريم | ياكوب |
| Jacob Elordi | جيكوب إيلوردي | جيكوب |
| Jacob Collier | جاكوب كولير | جاكوب |
How يعقوب is spelled, letter by letter
يعقوب has five letters, read from right to left, starting with the letter ي, yāʾ. One letter, و wāw, never joins the letter after it, so يعقوب always shows one small gap. Arabic writes only long vowels as letters. The two short vowels are marks that everyday spelling leaves out; يَعْقُوب shows them.
| Letter | Name | Sound | Joins the next letter? |
|---|---|---|---|
| ي | yāʾ | ya | Yes |
| ع | ʿayn | ʿ | Yes |
| ق | qāf | q | Yes |
| و | wāw | ū | No, never |
| ب | bāʾ | b | Last letter |
What does Jacob mean?
Jacob means holder of the heel, or supplanter, according to Behind the Name. The Hebrew Yaʿaqov is explained in Genesis as holder of the heel or supplanter, because Jacob was born holding his twin brother Esau's heel. يعقوب keeps the ʿayn of the Hebrew, the throat sound English drops, and Wiktionary gives it for Jacob and for the New Testament James. Jacob was one of the 50 most common names given to boys born in the US in 2024, in the Social Security Administration's 2024 national file, as copied in the usbabynames data package.
Two related names on this site are James in Arabic, جيمس and Isaac in Arabic, إسحاق. For Arabic names to choose from, browse the Arabic boy names with their meanings, part of our Arabic vocabulary lists.
Write يعقوب in more fonts and download it
Paste يعقوب into the box below, or into our Arabic calligraphy generator, to draw it in 12 more fonts and save it as a PNG.
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Naskh the print style
Thuluth-style Naskh with Thuluth touches
Kufi angular, for logos and titles
Ruqah everyday handwriting
Nastaliq the hanging Persian and Urdu style
Kano West African reed-pen style
Poster bold display lettering
Nothing you type leaves your browser; the only thing fetched is the fonts, from Google Fonts. Want to type in these styles on your own computer? Download free Arabic fonts, with our pick for each style.
Frequently asked questions
What is Jacob's name in the Quran?
The Quran calls him يعقوب (Yaʿqūb), son of Isḥāq. He is named, for example, in 2:132, where he and Abraham charge their sons to keep the faith. Arab Christians use the same name.
Are Jacob and James the same name in Arabic?
Yes. Both English names come from the Hebrew Yaʿaqov, and Arabic has one form for both, يعقوب; Wiktionary lists Jacob and the New Testament James under it. Spelled by their English sound they differ: جاكوب for Jacob, جيمس for James.
What does the name Jacob mean?
Jacob means holder of the heel, or supplanter. It is Hebrew, explained in Genesis as holder of the heel.
Which spelling of Jacob should I use for a tattoo?
For the Arabic name, use يعقوب. The letter wāw never joins the letter after it, so the one small gap is correct. For the English name as English speakers say it, use جاكوب. Paste either into the Arabic tattoo checker on this site before the stencil is made.