James

What James means

Means “May He Heel”

The English New Testament form of Jacob, from Middle English James, from Old French James, from Vulgar Latin Iācōmus, spoken and altered pronunciation of Latin Iācōbus, from Ancient Greek Ἰάκωβος (Iákōbos), from Ἰακώβ (Iakṓb), from Biblical

Source: Wiktionary, “James” (revision 94540466), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is James?

US: Steady: #7 in 2015, #6 now. England & Wales: Falling: down from #11 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1944, when 76,951 boys got the name (#1 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 143 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 225 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 99 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in WY (22.94 per 1,000 boys), VT (17.33 per 1,000 boys), AK (17.17 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

James is #6 in the US and #42 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.5% of US babies named James were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Jaymes15 US
• Jamez6 US
• Jamais6 US
• Jameis5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Nicknames

• Jay
• Jim
• Jimmi
• Jimmie
• Jimmy
• Jimbo
• Jem
• Jaime
• Jamie
• Jemmy
• Jambo
• Jake

Listed on Wiktionary under “pet forms”.

If you like James

Boys

• Philip#527“fond of horses”^*
• Peter#187“stone, rock”^*
• Paul#262“small”^*
• Stephen#383“crown, wreath”^*
• Adam#101“earth, man, soil, light brown”^*
• Mark#244Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1960, with 58,727 babies; 1,416 in 2025

For a sister

• Deborah#862“bee”^*
• Lisa#987“Locally Integrated Software Architecture”^*
• Marie#617Editor’s note Down from #560 in 2015 to #617 in 2025 in the US
• Anne#619Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1959, with 5,745 babies; 472 in 2025
• Jessie#823Diminutive of Jessica, possibly meaning “Iscah in Genesis 11:29…^*
• Martha#712“mistress”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Bible, Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like James’s. Rank is US 2025.