The story
- Hebrew · derived fromיעקב“Jacob”
- French · borrowed fromJacqueline
- English todayJacqueline
From French Jacqueline, a feminine diminutive form of Jacques (“James”), from Hebrew יעקב (ya'akóv, “Jacob”), from the root עקב (‘akev, “heel”), because the biblical patriarch Jacob was born just behind Esau, and was grasping Esau’s heel in an effort to prevent him from being born first.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.