James · Daily fortune

James is a masculine name, the English form of the Late Latin Iacomus, itself a variant of the Biblical Latin Iacobus, from the Hebrew Yaʿaqov — the same source as Jacob. Behind the Name explains Jacob as "holder of the heel" or "supplanter", after the Old Testament story of a twin born grasping his brother's heel, with an alternative theory tracing it to a name meaning "may God protect". James was the name of two apostles in the New Testament and of several Scottish kings, and it has never been outside the American top 20 since records began in 1880. In 2025 it ranked #6 for boys in the United States.

Behind the Name describes James as the "English form of the Late Latin name Iacomus, a variant of the Biblical Latin form Iacobus, from the Hebrew name Yaʿaqov (see Jacob)." Wikipedia gives the same chain in more detail: the Hebrew Yaʿaqov passed through the Latin Iacobus, then its Vulgar Latin derivative Iacomus (compare Italian Giacomo, Portuguese Tiago and Spanish Iago or Santiago), and finally the Old French James; the final -s is the Old French masculine subject-case ending also seen in names such as Jules, Miles and Charles. The meaning therefore belongs to Jacob rather than to James itself. Behind the Name's Jacob entry says the name "is explained as meaning 'holder of the heel' or 'supplanter'" because the biblical Jacob was born holding his twin Esau's heel and later twice deprived him of his birthright, while "other theories claim that it is in fact derived from a hypothetical name like Yaʿaqovʾel meaning 'may God protect'." Wikipedia repeats the "holder of the heel" or "supplanter" gloss. The link from James to Jacob is established; the ultimate sense of the Hebrew is the part that carries a note of uncertainty.

Behind the Name records James as the name of two apostles in the New Testament: Saint James the Greater, the brother of the apostle John, who was beheaded under Herod Agrippa in the Book of Acts, and James the Lesser, son of Alphaeus. A third James, known as James the Just, is mentioned in the Bible as the brother of Jesus. In England the name has been in use since the 13th century, and Behind the Name's Jacob entry adds that during the Middle Ages Jacob was mainly regarded as a Jewish name there while the variant James was the one used among Christians. It became more common in Scotland, where it was borne by several kings, and in the 17th century the Scottish king James VI inherited the English throne, becoming the first ruler of all Britain; the name then "grew much more popular". In American statistics kept since 1880 it has never left the top 20, which Behind the Name calls "arguably the era's most consistently popular name", and it was the top-ranked boys' name from 1940 to 1952.

James ranked #6 for boys in the United States in 2025 (Social Security Administration). Behind the Name notes that in American statistics recorded since 1880 the name has never been out of the top 20 and was the top-ranked boys' name from 1940 to 1952. Wikipedia describes it as the most popular boys' name during the Baby Boom (1940–1960), the fourth most popular in the United States in 2022, and the second most common first name among living Americans, roughly 3.4 million people as of 2021. Outside the United States, Wikipedia reports it in the top 5 in Northern Ireland since 1998, in the top 7 in the Republic of Ireland since 1964, 11th in Canada in 2022 and eighth in Australia in 2013. Jacob, its twin, ranked #43 in the same 2025 SSA file.

English James is /ˈd͡ʒeɪmz/, a single syllable: JAYMZ. Behind the Name also lists it as a modern Dutch name. Most other languages use their own descendant of Iacobus or Iacomus, and because many of them do not distinguish James from Jacob, the same form often serves for both. The forms below are drawn from the Behind the Name "Other Languages & Cultures" list; only the English, Dutch and Danish pronunciations were seen in this pass.

James is the plainest of the great English classics: one syllable, no spelling puzzles, and a resume that runs from the apostles through the Stuart kings to six American presidents and a fictional spy. Because it has sat near the top of the American charts for every year on record, it reads as neither trendy nor dated; a James born in 2025 shares the name with grandfathers and with classmates alike. Its short forms carry most of the personality — Jim and Jimmy feel mid-century and warm, Jamie feels youthful and (in the United States) a little unisex, Jem and Jimbo are the playful outliers — so parents who want a formal name on paper and an easy one at home usually find what they need. It pairs naturally with the other one-word royal names, and it is a common middle-name choice for the same reason.

The bearers below are limited to those named in the Behind the Name entry and the Wikipedia article consulted for this profile. Behind the Name also notes that six American presidents have borne the name, without listing them; Wikipedia's article on the given name names no individual bearers in its prose apart from a caption identifying Saint James the Great as one of the Twelve Apostles.

Names that share James's classic register, its biblical and Latin descent, or its short, single-syllable sound.