Hi
When I named my son, I never even considered what his name meant, until it came to filling in his baby record book. I now know that his name means "He Who Supplants", which I believe means to replace someone by force.
Any ideas how I can put a more postive slant on this?
Interestingly, in Hebrew, Ya'akov also means "he who catches the heel"... you could read about that origin here :Genesis 25:19-34 ... An ancient name, of course and looks like this in Hebrew script : http://www.my-hebrew-...f&name=jacob&id=22279 ...
Jacob is from the same root as James. (Jacobus is the Latin form of James, from the Hebrew 'Aqob' = supplanter).
In the Bible, Jacob (who was the second son of Isaac) didn't supplant his older brother, Esau, by force. He won his father's inheritance by means of a trick. So perhaps you could translate 'Jacob' as 'the smart one'?
Well,
I am Alec,which it seems means "Defender of Men"(it's apparently a shortening of Alexander)
Quite suitable really, as much of my life was spent in the Army.