boy's name
Ayoub
ah-YOOB
- Origin Arabic
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 22,487
France
#122
2025 births
Ayoub is a boy's name of Hebrew origin, the Arabic form of Job, and the name is a byword for endurance in both traditions. It ranks 122nd in France and is stable in our data.
- Ayoub is a name of Arabic origin.
- Peaked in France in 2015, when 960 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 1,191 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1961.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Ayoub over time
Births per decade in France, 1960s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1960s | 5 |
| 1970s | 50 |
| 1980s | 330 |
| 1990s | 1,875 |
| 2000s | 5,295 |
| 2010s | 8,440 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 3,635 |
What Ayoub means
Ayoub is usually read as one who returns to God, or as persecuted. The Hebrew Iyyov may be built on a root meaning to be an enemy, which would make it the persecuted one, but the derivation has never been settled.
Where Ayoub comes from
Ayoub is a French spelling of the Arabic Ayyub, from the Hebrew Iyyov, the name of the Book of Job. The derivation is contested: a root meaning enmity would give the persecuted one, which suits the story, while Arabic tradition reads it as one who repents or returns. Job is a wealthy man stripped of his children, his health and his property in a wager between God and the Adversary, who refuses both to curse God and to accept his friends' insistence that he must have deserved it. Ayyub is named in the Quran as a prophet and a model of sabr, patient endurance, which is the quality the name carries in Muslim naming. The English phrase the patience of Job comes from the Epistle of James rather than from the book itself, where Job is anything but patient.
Ayoub in use
Ayoub ranks 122nd in France with about 495 births in 2025 and is stable in our data with a peak in 2015. Our records carry it from 1961. It appears across the British and Irish markets too — 882nd in England and Wales, 802nd in Scotland, 947th in Ireland — which gives it wider reach than most Arabic names in the French top 200.
How popular is Ayoub?
In 2025, Ayoub was given to 495 babies in France, ranking #122 that year. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Ayoub is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
How Ayoub is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Ayoûb | Ayoûb is a rare spelling of Ayoub, written with a circumflex and recorded about 25 times, mostly in France. | 25 |
Names that peaked alongside Ayoub
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Ayoub also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Ayoub over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Ayoub in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Dutch
- Job
Sibling names for Ayoub
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Ayoub — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Ayoub
What does the name Ayoub mean?
It is usually read as "one who returns to God" or "persecuted." The Hebrew derivation is unsettled.
Is Ayoub the Arabic for Job?
Yes. Ayyub is named in the Quran as a prophet and a model of patient endurance.
Where does "the patience of Job" come from?
The Epistle of James, not the Book of Job — where Job argues with God at length.
How popular is Ayoub?
122nd in France and 882nd in England and Wales.
Is Ayoub a girl's or a boy's name?
Ayoub is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Ayoub?
Ayoub has 2 syllables.
Is Ayoub a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Ayoub currently ranks #122 in France. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.