Yakov is a distinctive choice, ranked #1897 in 2025. Your child is likely to be the only Yakov in their class.
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UK Rank 2025
#1897
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About the Name Yakov
Yakov is climbing rapidly up the charts, having climbed 613 places in just five years. Its best recorded rank was #1158 in 2011 — and current momentum suggests it could challenge that mark again. The name has been a consistent presence in UK records since 1997.
Yakov is uncommon in the UK, so your child is very likely to be the only Yakov in their class.
⭐ Famous People Named Yakov
Yakov Trenin — Yakov Vyacheslavovich Trenin is a Russian professional ice hockey player who is a forward for the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Yakov Vinichenko — Yakov Ivanovich Vinichenko is a Soviet World War II veteran.
Yakov Sverdlov — Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov was a Russian revolutionary and Soviet politician.
Biographical summaries are shortened from Wikipedia and are used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence; those summaries remain available under that same licence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the name Yakov
Unlikely. With around 13 UK babies named Yakov per year, your child will almost certainly be the only Yakov in their class, and possibly the only one in the whole school.
Yakov has been fairly steady, ranked #1,897 in 2025 against #1,935 in 2020. Its best recorded position was #1,158 in 2011.
Yakov is a distinctive choice sitting outside the mainstream UK top names. Parents choosing less common names often find their children appreciate the individuality as they grow up, rarely needing to add an initial to distinguish themselves.
Notable people named Yakov include: Yakov Trenin, Yakov Vinichenko and Yakov Eliashberg. Short summaries for each appear below.
Yakov does not appear in the US top 1,000 baby names, making it a distinctively British choice — your child is unlikely to encounter American Yakovs in the wild.
13
UK babies named Yakov (2025)
< 1
Expected classmates with this name (class of 28)
~0.0
In a school of 600
↑ 38 places
Rank change (last 5 years)
🏫 Who else is in the room?
In a typical UK class of 28, highlighted children share the name Yakov
Almost certainly the only Yakov in the class
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UK Popularity (1997–2025)
Rank and birth count · ONS official data
No US data available for this name
✨ Similar names to Yakov
Names with a similar style — each with their own classroom story
Yakov Iosifovich Dzhugashvili was the eldest son of Joseph Stalin, and the only child of Stalin's first wife, Kato Svanidze, who died nine months after his birth.
Yakov Springer was a wrestler and a weightlifting coach and judge but is best known as one of the victims of the Munich massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
Yakov Abramovich Chubin (Russian: Яков Абрамович Чубин) also known as Yakov Shub, served as the seventh first secretary of the Communist Party of the Turkmen SSR.