# Jacobson (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/jacobson/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

An English surname transferred from the given name.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 44,808 |
| US rank (2010) | 767 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 6,890 people |
| Change since 2000 | -0.1% (44,874 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈd͡ʒeɪkəbsən/, 3 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Jacob + -son. From Middle English Jacobson. Medieval English patronymic surname "son of Jacob". In the U.S. adopted by immigrants with similar family names, such as Swedish Jakobsson, Danish and Norwegian Jacobsen (or Jakobsen).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Jacobson in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 95% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.4% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.8% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 1.5% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Jacobson in the United States and the United Kingdom.

## People named Jacobson

- Peter Jacobson, American film and television actor, born 1965
- Howard Jacobson, British author and journalist
- Abbi Jacobson, American comedian and actress
- Nathan Jacobson, American mathematician (1910–1999)
- Sada Jacobson, American fencer
- Nina Jacobson, American studio executive
- Peter Marc Jacobson, American actor and director
- Edmund Jacobson, American physiologist (1888–1983)
- Eric Jacobson, American puppeteer
- Edith Jacobson, American German-born MD & psychoanalyst
- Andrew Jacobson, American soccer player
- Mark Z. Jacobson, American climate- and energy scientist and professor at Stanford University

and 3 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Jacobsen, Jacobs, Jacobus, Josephson, Jakubowski, Josephs.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.