James

James is a common given name. It is the most popular name for a male in the United States according to the 1990 U.S. Census. [1] It is derived from the same Hebrew name as Jacob, meaning "grasps by the heel" or "supplanter," probably in a deceiving way (In the Bible Jacob was born grasping Esau's heel and later bought his birthright).

Etymology

The name came into English language from the French variation Gemmes of the Late Latin word Iacomus, a dialectal variant of Iacobus, from the New Testament Greek Template:Polytonic (Iakōbos), from Hebrew יעקב (Yaʻaqov). Cognates include Jacob.

Cognates in other languages

Afrikaans: Jakob, or Jacobus
Albanian: Jakup, Jakub, Jakob or Jakov
Amharic: ያዕቆብ (Ya`iqob)
Arabic: يعقوب (Yaʻqub)
Armenian: Հակոբ (western Hagop, eastern Hakob)
Azerbaijani: Yaqub
Basque: Jakes, Jakobe, Jakue
Belarusian: Jakub
Breton: Jagu, Jagut, Jacut, Jak, Jakes, Jakez, Jakezig, Jakou
Bulgarian: Яков, (Yakov)
Catalan: Jaim, Jaume, Xaume
Cornish: Jago, Jammes, Jamma
Croatian: Jakov
Czech: Jakub, Jakoubek, Kubicek (diminutive), Kubes Kubes, Kuba (diminutive)
Danish: Jakob, Jeppe, Ib.
Dutch: Jacob(us), Jakob, Jaap (diminutive), Cobus (diminutive), Coos (diminutive), Chime (diminutive)
English: Jacob, Jakob (uncommon, by way of German, Yiddish, etc.), Jacoby (rare, chiefly American, and originally a surname), Jake (diminutive), Jakey (diminutive), Jackie (diminutive, chiefly British), Jack (diminutive, also taken as short for John), Coby (diminutive, uncommon, chiefly American); James, Jamie (diminutive, chiefly British), Jaime/Jaimie (diminutive, uncommon, chiefly American, and by way of Spanish), Jim (diminutive), Jimmy/Jimmi/Jimi (diminutive); Jacqueline/Jaqueline (feminized, by way of French), Jacqui/Jaqui (feminized diminutive), Jackie (feminized diminutive, chiefly American), Jacki (feminized diminutive), Jamie (feminized, chiefly American), Jamey/Jami (feminized)
Finnish: Jaakob, Jaakoppi, Jaakko
French: Jacques, Jacob, Jacquot, Jacot, Jaco, Jack (diminutive), Jacky (diminutive), Jacq (diminutive), Jacquy(diminutive), Jame, Gemmes (Normandy), Gemme (Normandy), Jacomo; Jacqueline (feminized)
Galician: Xaime, Iago, Diego, Xacobe
German: Jakob, Jeckel (diminutive), Jaeckel (diminutive)
Modern Greek: Ιάκωβος (Iakovos)
Hawaiian: Kimo
Hebrew: יעקב (Ya'aqov),קבי (Kobi : diminutive from Ya'akov)
Hungarian: Jakab
Icelandic: Jakob
Irish: Séamas/Séumas, Shéamais (vocative, whence anglicized Hamish), Seamus (anglicized), Shamus (anglicized), Séimí (diminutive), Séimín (diminutive)
Italian: Giacomo, Jacopo, Giacobbe, Lapo
Latin: Iacobus, Iacomus (vulgarized)
Malayalam: യാക്കോബ്‌ (Yacob), ചാക്കോ (Chacko)
Manx: Jayms
Māori: Hemi
Norwegian: Jakob, Jeppe
Occitan: Jammes, James
Polish: Jakub, Kuba, Kubuś (diminutive)
Portuguese: Thiago, Tiago, Diogo, Diego, Jacó, Jaime, Iago,
Provençal: Jacme
Romanian: Iacob, Iacov
Russian: Яков (Yakov), Яша (Yasha) (diminutive)
Scottish Gaelic: Seumas, Sheumais (vocative), Hamish (anglicized)
Serbian (Cyrillic/Latinic): Јаков/Jakov (Yakov); Јаша/Jaša (Yasha) (diminutive)
Spanish: Jacobo, Iago, Yago, Santiago, Diego, Jaime
Swedish: Jakob
Swiss:Köbi, Chöbi, Jakobli (diminuitive)
Syriac: ܝܰܥܩܽܘܒ (Yaqub)
Tagalog: Jaime
Turkish: Yakup
Ukrainian: Яків (Yakiv)
Welsh: Siam, Iago
Yiddish: Yankel (diminutive of the Hebrew Ya'akov, a more religious form in the context of the Yiddishland - East European jewish communities until WWII -), Yankele (diminutive of the precedent), Koppel (diminutive)

Famous persons with the given name James

Religious Figures

See also James (saints)

Saint James the Great or Saint James of Compostela, brother of John the Apostle
Saint James the Less, a brother of the apostle Matthew and the son of Mary (not Mary, mother of Jesus)
James the Just, brother of Jesus and believed to have written one of the books of the New Testament, the Epistle of James.

Kings of Scotland and/or England

James I of Scotland (1394–1437), king of Scotland from 1406 until 1437 (from 1406 to 1424 he was king in name only)
James II of Scotland (1430–1460) king of Scotland from 1437 to 1460
James III of Scotland (1451/1452–1488), king of Scotland from 1460 to 1488
James IV of Scotland (1473–1513) was king of Scotland from 1488 to 1513
James V of Scotland (1512–1542) was king of Scotland from 1513 to 1542
James I of England (James VI of Scotland) (1566–1625) was king of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, and was the first sovereign to rule in the three realms simultaneously
James II of England (James VII of Scotland) (1633–1701) was king of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland from 1685 to 1688, and was the last Catholic soverign to reign over England, Scotland, Wales. or Ireland

Kings of Aragon

James I of Aragon (1208–1276), surnamed the Conqueror, was the king of Aragon, count of Barcelona and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276
James II of Aragon (1267–1327), called The Just (Catalan: El Just) was the second son of Peter III of Aragon and Constance of Sicily

Presidents of the United States of America

James Madison (1751-1836), 4th President of the United States
James Monroe (1758-1831), 5th President of the United States
James K. Polk (1795-1849), 11th President of the United States
James Buchanan (1791-1868), 15th President of the United States
James Garfield (1831-1881), 20th President of the United States
Jimmy (James Earl) Carter (1924-) 39th President of the United States

Vice Presidents of the United States of America

James Schoolcraft Sherman (1855-1912), 27th Vice President under Howard Taft, died in office
James Danforth Quayle (1947-), 44th Vice President under George H. W. Bush

Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom

James Callaghan (1912-2005), Labour party Prime Minister in 1976-1979

Musicians, bands

James Blunt, British pop musician
James Dean Bradfield (1969-), vocalist and lead guitarist with Welsh rock band the Manic Street Preachers
James Darren (1936-), American television and film actor, television director, and singer
James Marshall Hendrix (Jimi Hendrix) (1942-1970), American guitarist, singer, and songwriter
James Hetfield (1963-), American co-founder, lead singer, main songwriter and rhythm guitarist for the heavy metal band Metallica
James LaBrie (1963-), Canadian vocalist of progressive metal band Dream Theater
James LoMenzo (1959-), American bassist for the heavy metal band Megadeth
James Paul McCartney (1942-), British vocalist, songwriter, and bass guitarist of The Beatles
James Douglas Morrison (1943-1971), singer, songwriter and poet of rock band The Doors
James Patrick Page (1944-), guitarist for rock band Led Zeppelin
James Newell Osterberg, Jr. (1947-), better known as Iggy Pop, one of the first punk rock musicians, singer, guitarist, actor and producer
James Shaffer (1970), Lead guitarist of rock band KoRn
James Vernon Taylor (1948-), American singer, songwriter, and guitarist
James "JT" Taylor (1953-), solo artist and former lead singer of the funk/R&B band Kool & The Gang
James "Big Jim" Wright (1966-) producer, singer, musician, and a Grammy award winning songwriter. He is a junior partner at Flyte Time Productions
James (band), a band from Manchester, England
James Marsters (1962-) musician and singer for Ghost of the Robot

Other

James Boswell (1740-1795), lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland
James Caan (1940- ), American actor, appeared as Sonny Corleone in the film "The Godfather"
James Cagney (1899-1986), American film actor "Yankee Doodle Dandy"
James Cook (1728–1779), British explorer of the Pacific and sailing-ship navigator: "Captain Cook". Killed in Hawaii in 1779
James Cromwell (1940- ), American television and film actor
James Dean (1931–1955), American actor: "Rebel Without a Cause"
James Doohan (1920-2005), Irish-Canadian soldier and character & voice actor, best known for his portrayal of "Scotty" in the television and film series Star Trek
James Earl Jones (1932- ), American character and voice actor: "Darth Vader"
James Earl Ray (1928–1998), the convicted assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr.
James Gandolfini, actor who plays Tony Soprano on "The Sopranos"
James P. Hogan, British-American science-fiction writer
James Hamilton, American actor noted for his role as Commissioner Gordon on the Batman TV series
James King, model and actress, also known as Jaime King
James Morgan (1776-1856), British architect and engineer
James Randi (1928- ), Canadian stage magician and noted skeptic, most notably an examiner of (thus far) bogus claims of the paranormal
James Stewart (1908-1997), American film actor: "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"
James Watt (1736-1819) Scottish engineer and the inventor of the modern steam engine
James Whale (1889-1957) English film director. Directed over 20 Hollywood films.
Jimmy White James Warren "Jimmy" White MBE (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player.
James White Northern Irish science-fiction writer
James Worthy (1961- ), college and professional basketball player from North Carolina
James Root (1971- ), current guitar player for Slipknot and Stone Sour
James R. Hoffa "Jimmy Hoffa" (1913-1975), former corrupt and murdered Teamsters president
James P. Hoffa (1941- ) is the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He was the only son of Jimmy Hoffa.
James Rhine (1976- ), a "player" on the reality show Big Brother (US TV series) during seasons 6 and 7.
James Arnold Taylor (1969- ) voice over actor

Fictional characters

James Henry Trotter, orphan featured in Roald Dahl's book James and the Giant Peach
James the Red Engine, fictional steam engine in Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends
James Bond, fictional British agent featured in novels and movies
James P. Dirt, fictional captain parodying James T. Kirk in Codename: Kids Next Door
James Hacker, fictional British cabinet member and then Prime Minister in Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister
James Hook, the pirate captain in the Peter Pan books and movies
James Howlett, birth name of Wolverine (comics), Marvel Superhero, and X-Men team member.
Jimmy James, fictional owner of WNYX, the radio station of the TV show NewsRadio
James Tiberius Kirk the science-fiction starship Captain Kirk in Star Trek
James McGarfield, better known as "Jimmy", a villain in Codename: Kids Next Door
Jamie McCrimmon, one of the Doctor's companion in the BBC TV series Doctor Who
James Moriarty, fictional character who was the best known antagonist of the detective Sherlock Holmes. Also appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation
James Potter, the father of Harry Potter
Dr. James Wilson, fictional oncologist in the FOX-TV series House
Jim Hawkins, fictional character from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island
Jim Hawkins, fictional character from the Japanese anime Outlaw Star
James Sunderland, the main protagonist in Silent Hill 2.
James Evans, the family patriarch of the main family on the 1974 situation comedy Good Times. His eldest son was James Evans Jr., although everyone called him J.J. (save for James, who referred to him as Junior).

Animals

Seamus, the dog of singer Steve Marriott, can be heard on the Small Faces track "The Universal" and more prominently on the Pink Floyd track "Seamus".
Seamus, the dog of former US president Bill Clinton.

Variant of the James

Jimmy Wales (1966- ), the founder and president of the Wikimedia Foundation
Jimmy Hoffa (1913-1975), former corrupt and murdered Teamsters Union president

Famous persons with the family name James

See James (surname)

References

Frequently Occurring Names from the 1990s - Site for locating the frequency of a given name in the 1990 U.S. Census.