NOTE: This is a special Saturday Name of the Day to accommodate a very soon due date!
He was the fastest rising name for boys born in 2008. Is he a new classic or just a flash in the pan?
Thanks to AN for suggesting Jacoby as Name of the Day.
Jacob has been King of the Mountain since 1999. The long-time #1 name for boys born in the US was given to more than 250,000 newborns in the 2000s alone. He’s been in the Top Ten since 1993 and the Top 100 since 1974.
Little wonder that parents have gone looking for variations:
- As an independent name, Jake ranked #112 in 2008, down a few places from his peak of #96 in 2000. He’s actually charted in the Top 1000 every year since the stats were established in 1880;
- Jakob has only ranked since 1983. He peaked at #171 in 2001, and had fallen to #309 in 2008. Jaykub and kin have been spotted, too.
Then along came Jacoby. The surname first appeared in 1983, but never quite caught on. And then, bang! In 2007, Jacoby jumped nearly 300 spots to #623 and then another 200 the following year, to an all-time high of #423 in 2008.
That’s a lightning fast gain in baby naming stats.
If Jameson can catch on, why not Jacoby? While the first generation of surname names in vogue tended to evoke New England prep school rosters, recent entrants are more diverse. Jacoby – traditionally Jewish – feels a little different. And yet his classic rhythm fits with traditional masculine monikers from Anthony to Zachary.
Plus there are nicknames aplenty – the obvious Jake or Jack, and the appealing Coby. And this is where the Jewish surname owes a hat tip to Japan and the NBA.
Kobe Bryant’s parents were inspired by a steakhouse serving beef from the Japanese city famed for its cattle. The year after Bryant joined the NBA, his first name debuted at #554. As his career took off, Kobe rose to #222 by 2001. His personal life has prompted some parents to look elsewhere for inspiration, but Kobe still ranked #408 in 2008.
It’s not just about beef and basketball, either. The hoop star first made headlines when sound-alike Cody was a Top 50 pick.
Notable Jacobs are many, from Esau’s twin in the Bible, to Molly Ringwald’s Sixteen Candles crush. Jacobys are harder to come by, but include:
- One of Barbossa’s cursed crew in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise;
- The Boston Red Sox’s Jacoby Ellsbury;
- Papa Roach frontman Jacoby Shaddix.
If there is one frustration with Jacoby it could be settling on a pronunciation. I’ve heard two:
- ja KO bee, the sound favored by a lawyer in my hometown;
- JAK oh bee, the pronunciation that springs to mind when I think of Jacobean England – the era immediately following the reign of Elizabeth I.
Depending on the language, ya KO bee or YAK oh bee are possible, too, though I doubt they’d appeal as first names. But who can say? After all, Nameberry called the rise of Cohen and company The Most Unlikely Mainstream Trend of 2010. And while Jacoby shares none of Cohen’s controversy, it is possible he’ll be tainted by association.
Overall, Jacoby’s sound is incredibly appealing. Part-20th century classic, part-cutting edge choice, it is easy to imagine this one catching on – and staying. Like Tyler and Jackson, he may be poised to join the fraternity of last names permanently promoted to first name status.
Jordanna says
February 3, 2013 at 9:09 PMI don’t mind it at all, but I only like the ja-KO-bee (or almost j’KO-bee) pronunciation that all the people by that last name that I know use. But I can’t imagine everyone using it is all that familiar with Jewish last names.
JACK-oh-bee makes me think of Jackalopes and I don’t think there needs to be another modern Jackson/Jaxon type route to Jack. I don’t mind Jacob NN Jack though.
I’d take Jacobi/Jacoby over Cohen in a heartbeat.
My brother jokingly supports Goldberg, though.
appellationmountain says
January 31, 2010 at 9:31 PMI’m surprised – and delighted! – to hear that Jacoby is getting such a warm welcome.
AN, I’m dying to know if Jacoby makes the cut!
SarahinJune says
January 31, 2010 at 11:04 AMMy husband brought up Jacoby when we were expecting our second born. I liked the sound but cosidering all of the little jacobs already running around, I couldn’t take it seriously.
Panya says
January 31, 2010 at 1:51 AMJacoby is on my family tree too. I like it, but only pronounced as jah-KO-bee. If it weren’t for the popularity of Jacob, and my dislike for Kobe Bryant, I’d probably use it as a middle name.
smismar says
January 31, 2010 at 12:49 AMJacobe is a family surname for me (jah-KO-bee), so it’s been a consideration for a middle name for my hypothetical future son for years. I’m a little weirded out, actually, by the boom in popularity for it’s variations.
Whitney Gigandet says
January 30, 2010 at 8:04 PMI know of Jacoby through the Papa Roach singer, and whether or not my pronunciation is right or not, I have always called him “ja KO bee”. I love it. Unfortunately, I think it sounds pretty alliterative with our last name, but it is still on my not-so-shortlist for a boy. I love that you can get the nickname Coby out of it, which I prefer by leaps and bounds to Jake and Jack.
Bewildertrix says
January 30, 2010 at 4:45 PMAs far as surnames go, it’s one of the better ones. I prefer it to Jacob slightly.
I think of Sir Derek Jacobi too but that’s only due to regular viewings of the loopy In The Night Garden over the last two years.
My favourite Jac-name is Jacoba. I have run across an adolescent one here in NZ. I got all the interesting names at this place of work.
British American says
January 30, 2010 at 3:39 PMMakes me think of the British actor Derek Jacobi – turns out he’s with an ‘i’ ending, not a ‘y’ though.
I prefer Jacoby over Jackson.
I say it “JAK oh bee”, though my mind wants to say “Jacob-ee”.
Sebastiane says
January 30, 2010 at 2:26 PMFor some reason, Jacoby sounds feminine to me. I much prefer Jacob.
JNE says
January 30, 2010 at 1:50 PMWow – how could I have forgotten those “from the law offices of Jacoby and Meyers” commercials?! They were on practically every ad break. And yet jah KOH bee was not even an option I’d thought of in pronouncing the name. In fact, I waffle between JAY kuh bee and JAK oh bee. In honesty, the name doesn’t excite me, but I don’t dislike it either. Jack and Jake are both cute nicknames (I have a not-so-little-anymore nephew, Jack – he’ll be 16 this spring – one of the throngs of British Jacks in the past decades). I guess if you went with the jah KOH bee pronunciation, you could get the nickname Coby out of it… Actually, what is to stop anyone from going for Coby with the other ways it’s said?! Actually, makes the name more appealing to me to have more possible nicknames because I’m weird that way.