James (name)

This article is about the given name James. For the surname, see James (surname). For other uses, see James (disambiguation).
James
Pronunciation /ˈmz/ or /ˈms/
Gender Male
Name day July 25
Origin
Meaning Supplanter, Seizing by the heel
Other names
Related names Jacob, Jaime, Jamie, Giacomo, Seumas, Séamus, Hamish, Jimmy, Jim, Jack, Jake, Jaimie, Diego, Diogo, Tiago, Jimbo, Iacomus
Look up James in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

James is the English language New Testament (Vulgar/Later Latin) form of the Hebrew name Yaʻaqov (known as Jacob in its earlier Latin form).[1] The name James came into the English language from the Old French variation James[2] of the late Latin name Iacomus. This was a Vulgar/Later Latin (proto-Romance) variant of the earlier Latin form Iacobus, from the New Testament Greek Ἰάκωβος (Iákōbos), from Hebrew יעקב (Yaʻaqov) (Jacob). The development Iacobus > Iacomus is likely a result of nasalization of the o and assimilation to the following b (i.e., intermediate *Iacombus) followed by simplification of the cluster mb through loss of the b. Diminutives include Jim, Jimmy, Jimmie, Jamie, Jimbo and others.

Cognates

Popularity

James was the most common male name in the United States in 1990.[3] Likewise, 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]

It is currently the fifth most common name in the United States. 1/32 of all Americans are named James (3.1%).

In 2013, it was the eighth most popular name for boys in Australia.[5]

In England and Wales, James has been one of the Top 20 most commonly-given male names since at least 1954 and in the Top 10 since at least 1974.

See also

References

  1. "James". Behind The Name. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  2. Harper, Douglas. "James". Online Etymological Dictionary. Douglas Harper. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  3. Frequently Occurring First Names and Surnames From the 1990 Census, Site for locating the frequency of a given name in the 1990 U.S. Census, US Census Bureau
  4. "Jack and Emma were the most popular first names in Northern Ireland in 2003" (PDF) (Press release). Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. 2004-01-02. Retrieved 2008-02-14. Only one of the top 10 boy's names in 1975 (James) is still in the top 10 in 2003....
  5. "Australia’s 100 most popular baby names". Kidspot. April 2, 2013. Retrieved 2014-01-10.

External links

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article James.
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