Jacob
/ˈd͡ʒeɪkəb/
"jacob" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Jacob” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #4,866 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #4,866
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A male given name from Hebrew.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Jacob |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈd͡ʒeɪkəb/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #4,866 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Jacob” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Jacob is 5 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈd͡ʒeɪkəb/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,866 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for Jacob, with forms such as "ajcob", "jacbo", and "jaccob". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 10 confusable-pair relationships, "job", "Jason", "Jacobs", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English Iacob, from Late Latin Iācōbus, from Ancient Greek Ἰάκωβος (Iákōbos), from Biblical Hebrew יַעֲקֹב (yaʿăqōḇ, literally “he will/shall heel”), from עָקֵב (ʿāqēḇ, “heel”). Doublet of James. The correct English form is Jacob, spelled J-A-C-O-B.
Definition
- 1A male given name from Hebrew.
- 2A male given name from Hebrew.
- 3A male given name from Hebrew.
Etymology
From Middle English Iacob, from Late Latin Iācōbus, from Ancient Greek Ἰάκωβος (Iákōbos), from Biblical Hebrew יַעֲקֹב (yaʿăqōḇ, literally “he will/shall heel”), from עָקֵב (ʿāqēḇ, “heel”). Doublet of James.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ajcob,jacbo,jaccob,jacobb,jaocb,jcaob,jjacob
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Jacob - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "Jacob"?
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Using “Jacob”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is J-A-C-O-B - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈd͡ʒeɪkəb/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “job” - see the side-by-side comparison. Jacob vs job
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.