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James
Saint James the Great, one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus
Pronunciation/dʒeɪmz/
GenderMale
Language(s)English
Name dayJune 30th
Origin
Word/nameHebrew, Latin
Meaning"He may/will/shall follow/heed/seize by the heel/watch/guard/protect”, "Supplanter/Assailant", "May God protect" [1]
Other names
Related namesJacob, Jakob, Jake, Jack, Jacques, Jim, Jimmy, Jamie, Jaime, Jemmy, Jay; language variants listed below

James is an English language given name of Hebrew origin, most commonly used for males.

Etymology

It is a modern descendant, through Old French James, of Vulgar Latin Iacomus (cf. Italian Giacomo, Portuguese Tiago, Spanish Iago, Santiago), a derivative version of Latin Iacobus, Latin form of the Hebrew name Jacob (original Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב).[2] 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. Giles, Miles, Charles, etc.). James is a very popular name in English-speaking populations.

Since in Spanish and its derivatives the J is pronounced /x/ (Kh), many Jews used this name for representing the Hebrew name of Haim, also written as Chaim (pronounced IPA: ['xaim]) or its similar forms in Spanish and English like Jack, Jaime, Jamie or Jim, even though the origins of the two names (Haim and Jacob) are very different.[citation needed]

Forms of James

Abbreviations

Diminutives

Variants in English and various other languages

Popularity

James is one of the most common male names in the English-speaking world. 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 one of the 20 most common names for boys.[3]

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

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. [6]

See also

References

  1. ^ Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name James". Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  2. ^ "James". Behind the Name. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  3. ^ "Top Names Over the Last 100 Years". www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  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. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-29. 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. Archived from the original on January 10, 2014. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  6. ^ "Name James: Wolfram Alpha". Wolfram Alpha. January 1, 2021.

External links

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