Jake Gyllenhaal's Real Name: Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal

Quick answer: Jake Gyllenhaal's full name is Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal. He was born on December 19, 1980, in Los Angeles, California, and performs under the nickname form Jake Gyllenhaal.

Real name and early life

Britannica and Biography.com identify Jake Gyllenhaal as Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal, born December 19, 1980, in Los Angeles (Britannica; Biography.com; LOC). He is the son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, and the younger brother of actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. He acted as a child, including an early turn in City Slickers, and studied briefly at Columbia University before committing to film. Jake is the familiar short form of Jacob; Benjamin is the middle name; Gyllenhaal is the family surname of Swedish aristocratic origin often discussed in profiles.

Career highlights

Breakout adult roles included Donnie Darko (2001) and October Sky; he earned an Oscar nomination for Brokeback Mountain (2005) and later headlined Zodiac, Source Code, End of Watch, Prisoners, Nightcrawler (Golden Globe-nominated), Southpaw, Stronger, and Spider-Man: Far From Home as Mysterio. Stage work includes Broadway’s Constellations and Sea Wall/A Life. He is also a producer and has been a visible New York–based public figure. Across indie drama and studio blockbusters, billing stayed Jake Gyllenhaal; the documented full name is Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal. Encyclopedias restore Jacob Benjamin when giving the birth name behind the Jake credit on posters and Blu-ray spines.

Name notes for searchers

Jake ≠ a separate legal surname change—it is the nickname for Jacob. Prefer Britannica, Biography.com, and LOC. Wikipedia is a pointer after those primaries.

Brokeback Mountain, Nightcrawler, and Marvel tie-ins keep Jake Gyllenhaal strong across drama and superhero product aisles.

Family-industry coverage of the Gyllenhaals explains Jake as the everyday form of Jacob, with Benjamin preserved in Library of Congress and encyclopedia full-name lines for Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal.

Physical-media editions of Zodiac, Source Code, and Spider-Man: Far From Home likewise keep the Jake Gyllenhaal billing while authority files quietly list Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal for catalogers.