It is a modern descendant, through
Old FrenchJames, of
Vulgar LatinIacomus (cf. Italian Giacomo, Portuguese Tiago, Spanish Iago, Santiago), a derivative version of Latin Iacobus,
Latin form of the
Hebrew name
Jacob (original Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב).[2] The final -s in the English first names is typical of those borrowed from Old French, where it was the former masculine
subject case (cf.
Giles,
Miles,
Charles, etc.). James is a very popular name in English-speaking populations.
Hebrew: Jacob and James are two separate, yet related names.
Jacob is יעקב (Ya'aqov or Yakov), with its diminutives:
קובי (Kobi)
ג'קי (Jecky : from Jacky)
ז'אק (Zhack from French pronunciation of Jacques)
יקי (Yaki)
יענקל'ה/ינקי (Yankalleh/Yankee - through
Yiddish).
James is גֵ'יימס/גִ'ימי/גִ'ים/ (James/Jimmy/Jim from English).
The Spanish name Jaime for James is pronounced in Spanish like the Israeli pronunciation of חיים (Haim or Chaim pronounced Kha-yim and meaning life). Diminutives of Chaim are:
Polish:
Jakub, Kuba (diminutive), Kubuś (diminutive endearing)
Portuguese: Jacó (
O.T. form), Jacob, Jaime, Iago, Tiago (contracted form used in the
N.T.), Thiago and Thyago (variant used in Brazil), Diogo, Diego, Santiago, Jaqueline (fem.)
Yiddish: יעקב (Yankev/Yankiff), קאפעל/קופפל (Kappel/Koppel), יענקל/יענקלה (Yankel/Yankelleh), יענקי (Yankee), יאקאב (Yakab - from Romanian Iacob), and the Gentile name not associated with Jacob: דזשעיימס (James)
James is one of the most common male names in the English-speaking world. In the United States, James was one of the five most common given names for male babies for most of the 20th century. Its popularity peaked during the
Baby Boom (Census records 1940–1960), when it was the most popular name for baby boys. Its popularity has declined considerably over the past 30 years, but it still remains one of the 20 most common names for boys.[3]
In
Northern Ireland, the name has appeared among the 10 most popular for the last quarter of the 20th century and into the 21st.[4] In 2013, James was the eighth
most popular name for boys in Australia.[5]
James is the second most common first name for living individuals in the United States, belonging to roughly 3.4 million people in the United States as of 2021, according to the
Social Security Administration. [6]
In 2022, in the United States, the name James was given to 12,028 boys, ranking it as the fourth most popular name.[7]
^"Name James: Wolfram Alpha". Wolfram Alpha. January 1, 2021. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link)