James

English variation of Jacob, Hebrew

"supplanter"

James Origin and Meaning

The name James is a boy's name of Hebrew, English origin meaning "supplanter".

James is one of the classic Anglo-Saxon names, a stalwart through the ages that is more popular—and yes, stylish—than ever today. It recently came out Number 1 in a poll of America's favorite boys' baby names, and is the most common male name, counting people of all ages, in the US.

James, which reentered the Top 5 in 2016, is a current favorite among fashionable parents looking for a baby name that has both style and substance. Like Henry and Theodore, it manages to combine these two stellar qualities.

An English derivation of the Hebrew name Jacob, James is biblical (the name of two apostles in the New Testament), royal (kings of both England and Scotland), and presidential (with more U.S. Chief Executives -- six -- than any other name). The name James is also shared by countless great writers and entertainers.

There are fewer Jimmys, Jimbos or even Jamies these days; the most fashionable form of the name is James itself. Several stylish celebrities have chosen it in recent years for their sons, including Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, Liz Phair, Colin Farrell and Isaac Hanson. Brendan Fehr thought out of the box and named his daughter James, which has now become a fashionable middle names for baby girls..

James has some interesting foreign variations: Diego and Jaime (Spanish), Jacques (French), Giacomo (Italian), Hamish (Scottish), Jaako (Finnish), Seamus (Irish), Jaap (Dutch) and Jago (Cornish).

Along with being one of the most popular first names in the US, James is also one of the most common American last names .

James Rank in US Top 1000

# 4 in the US

James Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 19 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name James

• 4 US 2023
• 19 Nameberry 2025
• 11 Canada 2023
• 5 Future 2035
• 35 England 2023
• 14 Scotland 2024
• 5 Ireland 2024
• 16 Australia 2023
• 12 New Zealand 2024
• 311 Germany 2016
• 9 Netherlands 2024
• 82 Belgium 2023
• 81 Switzerland 2023

20 Names Similar to James

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like James.

• William
• Benjamin
• Jack
• Henry
• Thomas
• Samuel
• Alexander
• Noah
• Charles
• Oliver
• Charlie
• Luke
• Theodore
• Leo
• Lucas
• Andrew
• Daniel
• Jacob
• Max
• Harry

Famous People Named James

• Saint James the Just brother of Jesus, first bishop of Jerusalem
• Saint James the Apostle son of Zebedee, brother of John the Apostle
• James I V, Kings of Scotland
• James I and VI and James II and VII Kings of England and Scotland
• James I and II Kings of Aragon
• James II IV, Kings of Majorca
• James Madison Jr., 4th U.S. president
• James Monroe 5th U.S. president
• James Knox Polk 11th U.S. president
• James Buchanan Jr., 15th U.S. president
• James Abram Garfield 20th U.S. president
• James Earl "Jimmy" Carter Jr., 39th U.S. president
• James Connolly Irish revolutionary leader, signatory and labor leader
• James Larkin Irish revolutionary leader and labor leader
• James Byron Dean American actor
• James Joseph Brown American singer
• James Eugene "Jim" Carrey Canadian actor
• James Maitland "Jimmy" Stewart American actor
• James Patrick "Jimmy" Page English musician of band Led Zeppelin
• James Taylor American singer,songwriter
• James Earl Jones American actor
• James Todd Smith aka LL Cool J American rapper and actor
• James Byron Casey American football player
• James Corden English comedian and TV host
• James Child Drury Jr., American actor
• James Edward Franco American actor
• James Hillier Blunt English singer,songwriter
• James Robert "Jim Bob" Duggar TV personality
• James Thomas "Jimmy" Fallon American actor/comedian
• James Feigen American swimmer
• James George Frazer Scottish anthropologist
• James Garner American actor
• James "Jimi" Hendrix American singer
• James Maury "Jim" Henson American puppeteer
• James Augustine Aloysius Joyce Irish novelist and poet
• James Harvey "Jamie" Kennedy American actor/comedian
• James Martin Lafferty American actor
• James Hiroyuki Liao American actor
• James Magnussen Australian swimmer
• James Marlowe American actor and singer
• James Paul Marsden American actor
• James Marsters American actor
• James David Maslow American actor and singer
• James Clerk Maxwell Scottish mathematical physicist
• James Andrew McAvoy Scottish actor
• James Daniel McVey lead guitarist for The Vamps
• James Morrison English singer
• James "Murr" Murray comedian from TV's Impractical Jokers
• James Rainwater American physicist and Nobel prize winner
• James Righton member of the British band, Klaxons
• James Roberts Australian swimmer
• James Rollins American Author
• James David Van Der Beek American actor
• James Wolfe British war hero
• (James) Paul McCartney English musician of The Beatles
• James William Acaster British comedian
• James David "Roady" Rodriguez American actor
• James Andrew Eric Phelps English actor
• James Anthony Yammouni Youtube comedian
• James A. Lovell Jr., American astronaut
• James A. McDivitt American astronaut
• James Fitzjames British Royal Navy officer
• James Joseph "Jim" Parsons American actor
• James Elliot Bourne British musician of band Busted
• James Alfred "Jim" Chapman British vlogger
• James Perry American actor in YouTube sketch comedy show Studio C
• James Francis "Jim" Cameron Canadian filmmaker, director, and producer
• James Metcalfe "Jamie" Campbell Bower English actor, singer, and model
• James Ma (born James Assarasakorn) Thai actor and model
• James Kowats American executive producer
• James Milner English professional footballer
• James "UberHaxorNova" Wilson YouTube personality
• James Charles Dickinson YouTube personality
• James Turner YouTuber
• James Leonard Gillette (b.1997) son of Lita Ford and Jim Gillette of Nitro
• James Andrew Duggar (b. 2001) 13th child of reality TV's Duggar family
• James Wilkie Broderick (b. 2002) son of actors Matthew Broderick & Sarah Jessica Parker
• James Alexander Philip Theo Mountbatten Windsor, Viscount Severn (b. 2007); son of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex; grandson of Queen Elizabeth II
• James Monroe Hanson (b. 2008) son of American musician Isaac Hanson
• James Hoke Dorough (b. 2009) son of singer Howie Dorough of the Backstreet Boys
• James Joseph Cavanagh (b. 2009) son of Canadian actor Tom Cavanagh
• James Timothy Pudi (b. 2012) son of actor Danny Pudi
• James Knight Newman (b. 2013) son of actress and model Jaime King
• James Hamilton McDonough (b. 2014) son of actor Neal McDonough
• James Jeffrey Dunham (b. 2015) son of comedian Jeff Dunham
• James Arthur Walker IV (b. 2016), son of American news correspondent Brooke Anderson
• Jamin James Pastore (b.2017) son of Natalie Pasquarella and Jamin Pastore
• James Andrew Glennon (b. 2018) son of American reality television personality Amber Portwood, half,brother to Leah Leann
• James Holt Joblon (b. 2019) son of Claire Holt and Andrew Joblon.
• James Hunter Bailey son of Devon Aoki and James Bailey.
• James Francis Cagney Jr. American actor

The name James in Pop Culture

• James Bond 007, spy character created by Ian Fleming
• James Tiberius Kirk captain in the Star Trek series
• James 'Jim' Hawkins main character in RL Stevenson's Treasure Island and Disney's Treasure Planet
• James Isaac "Jimmy" Neutron main character in Jimmy Neutron : Boy Genius
• James Conrad character in "King Kong" series
• "James & the Giant Peach " novel by Roald Dahl, movie and main character
• James "Prongs" Potter father of Harry James Potter in the Harry Potter series
• James Sirius Potter son of Harry James Potter in the Harry Potter series
• James "Jem" Carstairs character in Cassandra Clare's Infernal Devices series
• James "Jim" Moriarty nemesis in the Sherlock Holmes series
• James "Rhodey" Rhodes character in Marvel Universe
• James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes character in Marvel Universe
• James "Logan" Howlett also known as Wolverine, character in Marvel Universe
• James "Sawyer" Ford character on TV series "Lost"
• James "Jim" Paxton character in Marvel Universe
• James Griffin the MFE pilot in Voltron: Legendary Defender
• James Sunderland main character in the video game "Silent Hill 2"
• James Leary character in video game "The Sims 3: Moonlight Bay"
• James Diamond character on TV's "Big Time Rush"
• James character in the Twilight series
• James "Jimmy" Kent character on TV's "Downton Abbey"
• James main character in viral short film "One,Minute Time Machine" (2014)
• James Trivette character on TV's "Walker, Texas Ranger"
• James member of Team Rocket in the Pokemon series
• James Duncan "Jim" Halpert character on TV's "The Office"
• James Lucas "Jamie" Scott character on TV's "One Tree Hill"
• James a train on TV's "Thomas & Friends"
• James "Wilke" Wilkerson III Character on TV's "Switched at Birth"
• James Whitlock character in the Mindbender series by Veronica Slemp
• James Stark character in the 'House of Night' series by PC Cast
• James Gatz birth name of Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby"
• James Byrd penguin in "Spyro the Dragon" video games
• James Walsham main character in G. A. Henty's, With Wolfe in Canada
• James Herondale main character in Cassandra Clare's "The Last Hours"
• James 'Iggy' Griffiths character in the Maximum Ride novels
• James character in video game "Fallout 3"
• James Yewbeam character in Jenny Nimmo's "The Children of the Red King" series
• James Morgan "Jimmy" McGill real name of Saul Goodman, character on TV's 'Breaking Bad' and 'Better Call Saul'
• James Dennet character in Mary Kubica's novel "The Good Girl"
• James "Jimmy" Palmer character on TV's "NCIS"
• James Evan Wilson character on TV's "House M.D."
• James "Jim" Brass character on TV's "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"
• James Rook character in webcomic "Hotblood!"
• James Bartholomew "Jimmy" Olsen character in DC Universe
• James Jacob "Jim" Harper also known as Guardian, character in DC Universe
• James Jesse also known as Trickster, character in DC Universe
• James Gordon Sr. and James Gordon Jr. characters in DC Universe
• James Bennet(t) Sr. and James Bennet(t) Jr. characters in DC Universe
• James Keziah Delaney Tom Hardy's character in Taboo (TV Series)
• James "Jim" Lake Jr. character in DreamWorks Trollhunters
• James Vanderboom character in Rusty Lake: Roots
• James Ratri aka William Minerva character in the manga/anime series "The Promised Neverland"

International Variations of the name James

• Shamus Irish
• Jaap Dutch
• Hamish Scottish
• Shay Irish
• Giacomo Italian
• Jago Cornish
• Seumas Scottish
• Diego Spanish
• Jock Scottish
• Jamie Scottish
• Séamas Irish
• Seumus Irish
• Shamas Irish
• Jacque French
• Yago Spanish
• Santiago Spanish
• Hagop Armenian
• Jaime Spanish
• Iago Spanish
• Jacques French