Job

Boy name variations

Family name origins & meanings

• English, French, German, and Hungarian (Jób) : from the personal name (Hebrew Iyov) 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 meaning ‘Where is the (divine) father?’ and ‘Persecuted one’. It does not seem to have been used as a personal name in the Middle Ages: the surname is probably a nickname for a wretched person or one tormented with boils (which was one of Job’s afflictions).