Explore the Family Name Job
The meaning of Job
1. German, French, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, and Slovenian; Hungarian (Jób): from the personal name (Hebrew Iyyob) borne by a Biblical character, the central figure in the Book of Job, who was tormented by God and yet refused to forswear Him. The name has been variously interpreted as ‘Where is the (divine) father?’ and ‘Persecuted one’. The surname may also be a nickname for a wretched person or one tormented with boils (which was one of Job’s afflictions). Compare Yob; see also 5 below. 2. English: from the Middle English personal name Jop(e), Joppe, or Job(be) (perhaps also Jubbe). The name may have more than one source, but it was certainly a pet form of Geoffrey (see Jeffrey). Joppe was originally a pet form of Joffrey, an Old French side-form of Geoffrey. The change of final /f/ to /p/ is the same as that in Jeff(e) to Jepp(e) (see Jepson). 3. English: perhaps from a Middle English pet form of Old French Jobert; compare Jobin. 4. English: nickname from Middle English joppe (medieval Latin joppus) ‘fool’, perhaps related to 16th-century French jobe ‘simpleton’. Compare Middle English jobard and jobet ‘blockhead, fool’. 5. English: perhaps also from the Biblical personal name Job (see 1 above), which does not seem to have been used as a personal name in Britain in the Middle Ages, and the commonly held beliefs (for example in Bardsley, Weekley, and Reaney and Wilson) that Job was a (frequent) character in the medieval mystery plays, and that this gave rise to a popular Middle English personal name, have no foundation. Some characteristic forenames: French Andre, Christophe, Damien, Laure, Michel.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Job in the United States?
Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Job has remained relatively stable over a ten-year period from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it ranked 12,542 and in 2010, it moved up one spot to 12,541. The number of people with the surname Job increased by 9.0% during this decade, from 2,266 in 2000 to 2,470 in 2010. However, the proportion of individuals bearing the surname Job for every 100,000 people remained the same at 0.84.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #12,542 | #12,541 | 0.01% |
| Count | 2,266 | 2,470 | 9% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.84 | 0.84 | 0% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Job
In terms of ethnic identity, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census reveals changes in the distribution among those bearing the surname Job between 2000 and 2010. In 2010, the majority of the Jobs identified as White (74.05%), a decrease from 2000 when 80.41% did so. There were increases among those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander (from 6.53% to 8.70%) and Black (from 7.59% to 10.85%). Additionally, more individuals identified as Hispanic (from 3.13% to 4.62%) and American Indian and Alaskan Native (from 0.31% to 0.40%). Conversely, fewer individuals identified as belonging to two or more races (from 2.03% in 2000 down to 1.38% in 2010).
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 80.41% | 74.05% | -7.91% |
| Black | 7.59% | 10.85% | 42.95% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 6.53% | 8.7% | 33.23% |
| Hispanic | 3.13% | 4.62% | 47.6% |
| Two or More Races | 2.03% | 1.38% | -32.02% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0.31% | 0.4% | 29.03% |