Jacob

A young man wrestling an angel all night beside a river, refusing to let go until he gets a blessing — Jacob is the trickster who becomes Israel, and the Hebrew Yaakov, "supplanter" or "one who follows," carries that complicated grace. It was the most popular American boys' name for a remarkable thirteen years running in the 1990s and 2000s; it has since settled to rank 41, still one of the country's most reliable choices. Two sturdy syllables ending on a consonant that lands like a door closing gently. Biblical without being ornate, familiar without being worn out. A name that shows up and stays.