James - Meaning of James

What does James mean?

Pronounce
James

[ 1 syll. ja-mes, jam-es ] The baby boy name James is also used as a girl name, but it is much more common for boys. It is pronounced in English as JHEYMZ †. James is an English and Hebrew name of Hebrew origin.

In addition, James is an English variant of the name Jacob (Dutch, English, German, and Scandinavian).

The name Jamie (English) is the female equivalent of James.

What are the Variant Forms of James?

James is a widely used name; it has 76 variants that are used in English and other languages. Variants used in English include Jacques (also used in Dutch and French), Jaem, Jaemes, Jago, Jaim, Jaime (also used in Portuguese and Spanish), Jaimes, Jame, Jamese, Jamesen, Jamesie, Jameson, Jamesy, Jamez, Jameze, Jamies, Jamisen, Jamison, Jamse, Jamsie, Jamyes, Jamze, Jasha, Jaym, Jaymes, Jaymz, Jecis, Jemes, Jiminy, and Jimm. Other English variants include the short form Jay, and the diminutive forms Jaimey, Jaimie, Jamey, Jamie (also used in Scottish), Jas, Jaymie, Jem, Jemmy, Jim (also used in Dutch), Jimbo, Jimmie, and Jimmy.

Foreign variants of James include Chago (Spanish), Chango (Spanish), Chanti (Spanish), Diago (Portuguese), Diego (Italian and Spanish), Diogo (Portuguese), Giacomo (Italian), Giamo (Italian), Hagop (Armenian), Hamish (Scottish), Hemi (Maori), Iago (Italian, Spanish, and Welsh), Jaco (Portuguese), Jagu (Breton), Jaimito (Spanish), Jakome (Basque), Jascha (Russian), Jaume (Catalan), Jayme (Portuguese and Spanish), Kimo (Hawaiian), Santiago (Spanish), Seamus (Irish and Scottish), Seumas (Irish and Scottish), Shay (Irish), Simidh (Gaelic), Tiago (Portuguese and Spanish), and Yago (Spanish).

See also the related forms, Aaronjames, Jack, Jamond, and Jami.

See also the related categories, english and hebrew.

James is very popular as a baby name for boys, and it is also considered fairly trendy. Its usage peaked in 1944 with 5.539% of baby boys being given the name James. It ranked at #1 then. The baby name has since experienced a fall in popularity. In 2018, its usage was 0.701% and its ranking #4, enjoying a minor resurgence in the recent decade. Among all boy names in its group, James was the most popular. In 2018, 15% more boys were named James than the next most popular name, Jacob. James has in the past century been mostly given to baby boys. In 1989, the name James was given to 177 times as many baby boys than girls.

Baby names that sound like James include Jamese, Jas, Jaymes, Jaymz, Jamse, Jamyes, Jamze, Jankó, Janós, Janse, Janz, Jemes, Jenks, Jenx, Jiang, Jing, Johns, Jones, Jong, and Jóhannes.

† Pronunciation for James: JH as in "joy (JH.OY)" ; EY as in "ate (EY.T)" ; M as in "me (M.IY)" ; Z as in "zoo (Z.UW)"