James is an English language given name that is a derivative of the name Jacob, most commonly used for males.
Etymology James is a modern descendant of the Hebrew name Ya'akov (original ), in English: Jacob. The Hebrew name went successively through the Latin form Iacobus, its derivative Vulgar Latin version Iacomus (cf. Italian Giacomo, Portuguese Tiago or Thiago (in ancient spelling although still used as a first name), and Spanish Iago, Santiago), and finally the Old French James. 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. Jules, Miles, Charles, etc.).
Forms of James Abbreviations Jas. (English)
Diminutives Jack Jake Jim or Jimmy/ Jimy/Jimmi/Jimi/Jimmie Jimbo Jay Jaime or Jamie
Variants in English and various other languages Afrikaans: Jakobus, Koos (diminutive), Kobus (diminutive), Jakko (diminutive) Albanian: Jakup, Jakub, Jakob or Jakov Alemannic: Köbi, Chöbi, Joggel, Jakobli (diminutive), Joggeli (diminutive), Joggi Amharic: ያዕቆብ (Ya‘əqob) Arabic: (Yaʻqub) Aragonese: Chaime, Chacobo Armenian: Յակոբ in classical orthography and Հակոբ in reformed orthography (Western: Hagop, Eastern: Hakob) Asturian: Diegu, Xacobu, Xaime Azerbaijani: Yaqub Basque: Jakue, Jakob, Jakobe, Jagoba, Jaime, Jakes; Jakoba, Jagobe (feminized); Jago (diminutive) Bavarian: Jackl, Jock, Jocke, Jockei Belarusian: Jakub, Якуб (Yakub), Jakaŭ, Якаў (Yakaw) Bengali: জেমস (Jēms/Jēmsh), ইয়াকুব (Iyakub) Biblical Hebrew: Yaʿăqōb (יעקב) Bosnian: Jakub, Jakup, Jakov Breton: Jagu, Jagut, Jacut, Jak, Jakes, Jakez, Jakezig, Jakou, Jalm, Chalm Bulgarian: Яков (Yakov) Cantonese 占士 (Jeem-see) Catalan: Jaume, Jacme, Jacob, Dídac Cherokee (Tsalagi): ᏥᎻ (Tsi-mi) Chinese: 詹姆斯 (Zhānmǔsī), 詹姆士 (Zhānmǔshì) Cornish: Jago, Jammes, Jamma, Jamys Croatian: Jakov, Jakob, Jakša Czech: Jakub, Jakoubek (diminutive), Kuba (diminutive), Kubík (diminutive), Kubíček (diminutive), Kubas (informal, uncommon), Kubi (informal), Kubsik (informal, uncommon) Danish: Ib, Jacob, Jakob, Jeppe, Jim, Jimmy Dutch: Jacob, Jacobus, Jakob, Jaco, Jacco, Cobus, Coos, Jaap, Kobe, Kobus, Koos, Sjaak, Sjakie English: Jack Jacob Jacobson Jacobs Jakob (uncommon, by way of German, Yiddish, etc.) Jacoby Jacobie (rare, chiefly American, and originally a surname) Jake, Jakey, Jaky, Jakie, (diminutive) Coby/Koby/Cobie/Kobie (diminutive, uncommon, chiefly American) Jamison Jamieson Jamesy Jamesie Jamesey Jem (diminutive, also taken as a diminutive for Jeremiah, Jeremy or Jemma) Jacqueline/Jaqueline (feminized, by way of French) Jacquie/Jaqui/Jaquy (feminized diminutive), Jackie (feminized diminutive, chiefly American), Jacky (feminized diminutive) Jamie/Jamey/Jami/Jamy/Jamiey/ (feminized) Jamesina, Jamesa (feminine form) Esperanto: Jakobo Estonian: Jakob, Jaakob, Jaagup, Jaak Faroese: Jákup, Jakku (only in double names such as Jóan Jakku, Hans Jakku. Previously spelled Jacob/Jakob) Filipino: Jaime, Jacób, Santiago (religious usage) Finnish: Jaakob, Jaakoppi, Jaakko, Jaska, Jimi, Jouppi (archaic, nowadays only as a surname), Kauppi (archaic, nowadays only as a surname) French: Jacques, Jacqueline (feminized), James, Jammes, Jacob, Jacquot (diminutive), Jacot (diminutive), Jacotte (feminized), Jaco (diminutive), Jack (diminutive), Jacky (diminutive), Jacq (diminutive), Jacquy (diminutive) Frisian: Japik Friulian: Jacum Galician: Xaime, Iago, Diego, Xacobe, Xácome Georgian: იაკობ (Iakob), კობა (Koba) German: Jakob, Jakobus, Jeckel (diminutive), Jäckel (diminutive), Köbes (diminutive), Köbi (Swiss German diminutive) Greek: Ιακώβ (Iakov, in the Septuagint) Ιάκωβος (Iakovos, New Testament) Γιακουμής (Yakoumis, colloquial, possibly also from Ιωακείμ (Joachim)) Ιακωβίνα (Iakovina, feminized) Γιάγκος (Yangos, probably through Slavic languages) Ζάκης or Ζακ (Zakis or Zak, French-sounding) Hawaiian: Kimo, Iakobo, Iakopo 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 transliterated as 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: חיימי Chayimee (from Yiddish or Spanish Jaime) חיק׳ל/חיימקה (Chaikel/Chayimke from Yiddish) Hindi: जेम्स (Jēmsa) Hungarian: Jakab, Jákob Icelandic: Jakob Igbo Jems, James, Jekọb Indonesian: Yakobus, Yakubus, James Irish: Séamas/Séamus, Shéamais (vocative, Séimí (diminutive), Séimín (diminutive), Séamuisín (diminutive), Iacób Italian: Giacomo, Iacopo or Jacopo, Giacobbe, Giacomino, Giaco, Giamo, Mino Japanese: ジェームス (Jēmusu) Jerriais: Jimce Kannada: ಜೇಮ್ಸ್ (Jēms) Kazakh: Жақып (Zhaqip, Jacob), Якуб (Yakub, Yacoob) Kyrgyz: Жакып (Jaqıp, Jacob), Якып (Yaqıp), Якуп (Yakup), Якуб (Yakub, Yacoob), Каим (Qaim, Chaim), Кайым (Qayım, Chaim) Kikuyu: Jemuthi, Jemethi, Jimmi, Jakubu (Pronounced "Jakufu") Korean: 제임스 (Jeimseu), 야고보 (Yakobo) Kurdish (Sorani): Late Roman: Iacomus Latin: Iacobus, Iacomus (vulgarized), Didacus (later Latin) Latvian: Jēkabs, Jākubs, Jakobs Limburgish: Jakob, Sjaak, Sjak, Keube Lithuanian: Jokūbas Lombard: Giacom, Giacum, Jacom Low German: Jak, Jakob, Kööb, Köpke Luxembourgish: Jakob, Jak, Jeek, Jeki Macedonian: Јаков (Yakov) Malay: يعقوب (Ya'qub), Ya'kub, Yakub Malayalam: Chacko, Jacob, Yakkob (pronounced Yah-kohb) Maltese: Ġakbu, Ġakmu, Jakbu Manx: Jamys Māori: Hēmi Northern Sami: Jáhkot Norwegian: Jakob, Jakop, Jeppe Occitan: Jacme (pronounced Jamme), Jaume, Jammes (surname, pronounced Jamme), James (surname, pronounced Jamme) Persian: (Yaʻqub) Piedmontese: Giaco, Jaco (Montferrat dialect); diminutive: Giacolin, Giacolèt, Jacolin Polish: Jakub, Kuba (diminutive), Kubuś (diminutive endearing) Portuguese: Jacó (O.T. form), Jaime, Iago, Tiago (contracted form used in the N.T.), Thiago (variant used in Brazil), Diogo, Diego, Santiago, Jaqueline (fem. – French influence), Jacobina (fem.) Provençal: Jacme Punjabi: ਜੇਮਸ (Jēmasa) Romanian: Iacob, Iacov Romansh: Giachen, Giacun Russian: Иаков (Iakov) (archaic O.T. form), Яков (Yakov, Iakov), Яша (Yasha) (diminutive) Samoan: Iakopo, Semisi, Simi (Jim) Sardinian: Giagu (Logudorese), Iacu (Nuorese) Scots: Jeams, Jeames, Jamie, Jizer, Jamesie Scottish Gaelic: Seumas, Sheumais (vocative), Hamish (anglicized) Serbian (Cyrillic/Latinic): Јаков/Jakov (Yakov); Јакша/Jakša (Yaksha); Јаша/Jaša (Yasha) (diminutive) Sicilian: Giacumu, Jàcumu Sinhala: දියෝගු (Diogu), ජාකොබ් (Jakob), සන්තියාගො (Santhiyago), යාකොබ් (Yakob) Slovak: Jakub, Kubo, Kubko (diminutive), Jakubko (diminutive) Slovene: Jakob, Jaka Somali: Yacquub Spanish: Jaime, Jacobo, Yago, Tiago, Santiago, Diego, Jacoba (fem.), Jacob Swahili: Yakobo Swedish: Jakob Sylheti: য়াকুব (Yakub) Syriac: ܝܰܥܩܽܘܒ (Yaqub) Tamil: ஜேம்ஸ் (Jēms) Telugu: యాకోబు (Yākôbu) జేమ్స్ (Jēms) (Jame, Cems̄̒) Turkish: Yakup, Yakub Ukrainian: Яків (Yakiv) Urdu: جیمز (James), یعقوب (Yaqoob) Venetian: Jàcomo, Jàco Walloon: Djåke Welsh: Iago, Siâms 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) Yoruba Jákó̩bù, Jakobu Zulu: Jakobe
Popularity James is one of the most common male names in the English-speaking world.
As of 2025, James has remained within the top 5 names for boys in Northern Ireland every year since at least 1998, and within the top 7 names for boys in the Republic of Ireland every year since 1964.
In 2013, James was the eighth most popular name for boys in Australia.
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 popular, and in 2022, it was the fourth most popular boys' name. 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.
In 2022, James was the 11th most popular name given to boys in Canada.
See also List of people with given name James
James (surname)
References
External links