Behind the Names

JACOB
Gender: Masculine
Pronounced: /JAY-kəb/(English)

From the Latin Iacobus, which was from the Greek /Iakobos/, which was from the Hebrew name /Ya'aqov/. In the Old Testament, Jacob (later called Israel) was the son of Isaac and Rebecca and the father of the twelve founders of the twelve tribes of Israel. He was born holding his twin brother Esau's heel, and his name is explained as meaning "holder of the heel" or "supplanter". Other theories claim that it is in fact derived from a hypothetical name like /Ya'aqov'el/ meaning "may God protect".
The English names Jacob and James derive from the same source, which James coming from Latin Iacomus, a later variant of Iacobus. Unlike English, many languages do not have separate spellings for the two names.
In England, Jacob was mainly regarded as a Jewish name during the Middle Ages, though the variant James was used among Christians. Jacob came into general use as a Christian name after the Protestant Reformation.

Jacob struggles with the angel, by Rembrandt 

(Gemäldegalerie, Berlin)

AVA
Gender: Feminine
Pronounced: /AI - vuh/ (English)
The origin of the name Ava is believed to be Hebrew. The meaning of the name is “Life” or “Breath of Life”.
The name Ava is mainly used in Iranian. It is pronounced as /ah – VAH/ in Persian, meaning “voice”.
Popular Variants for the name Ava include: Aeva, Aiva, Avada, Avae, Avah, Ave, Aveen, Avis, Aveline and Eve.