James (given name)

This article is about the given name James. For the surname, see James (surname). For other uses, see James (disambiguation).

James

Pronunciation	English: /ˈdʒeɪmz/ or /ˈdʒeɪms/
Gender	Male
Origin
Word/name	Hebrew
Meaning	“he supplanted”, “holds the heel”
Other names
Related names	Iacomus, Jack, Jaime, Jamie, Seumas, Séamus, Hamish

The name James is derived from the same Hebrew name as Jacob, meaning "holds the heel" (in the Genesis narrative, Jacob was born grasping Esau′s heel and later bought his birthright) The name "Jimmy" is often used as a nickname for someone named James because Jimmy seems to be less formal.

The name came into English language from the French variation of the late Latin name, Iacomus; a dialect variant of Iacobus, from the New Testament Greek Ἰάκωβος (Iákōbos), from Hebrew word יעקב (Yaʻaqov). 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, Jamey, Jimmy Rizla/Woodbine/Lambert and others. It may be abbreviated to "Jay".

Cognates

• Albanian: Jakup, Jakub, Jakob or Jakov
• Alemannic: Köbi, Chöbi, Jockel, Jakobli (diminutive), Jockeli (diminutive), Joggi
• Amharic: ያዕቆብ (Ya‘əqob)
• Arabic: يعقوب (Yaʻqub)
• Armenian: Յակոբ in TAO and Հակոբ in RAO (Western: Hagop, Eastern: Hakob)
• Azerbaijani: Yaqub
• Basque: Jakes, Jakobe, Jakue
• Belarusian: Jakub, Якуб (Yakub), Jakaŭ, Якаў (Yakaw)
• Bosnian: Jakub
• Breton: Jagu, Jagut, Jacut, Jak, Jakes, Jakez, Jakezig, Jakou
• Bulgarian: Яков, (Yakov)
• Catalan: Jaume, Xaume, Jacob
• Cornish: Jago, Jammes, Jamma
• Croatian: Jakov, Jakob
• Czech: Jakub, Jakoubek (diminutive), Kuba (diminutive), Kubík (diminutive), Kubíček (diminutive), Kubas (informal, uncommon), Kubes (informal, uncommon), Kubis (informal, uncommon), Kubi (informal, uncommon)
• Danish: Jakob, Jeppe, Ib.
• Dutch: Jakob, Jaap, Jobby, Cobus, Koos
• English:
  • Jacob
  • Jakob (uncommon, by way of German, Yiddish, etc.)
  • Jacoby (rare, chiefly American, and originally a surname)
  • Jake, Jakey (diminutive)
  • Jack (also taken more commonly as a diminutive for John)
  • Jackie (diminutive, chiefly British)
  • Coby (diminutive, uncommon, chiefly American)
  • James, Jamie (diminutive, chiefly British)
  • Jaime/Jaimie (diminutive, uncommon, chiefly American, and by way of Spanish)
  • Jim
  • Jimmy/Jimmi/Jimi (diminutive)
  • Jimbo (diminutive)
  • Jay
  • Jem (diminutive, also taken as a diminutive for Jeremiah, Jeremy or Jemma)
  • Jacqueline/Jaqueline (feminized, by way of French)
  • Jacqui/Jaqui (feminized diminutive), Jackie (feminized diminutive, chiefly American), Jacki (feminized diminutive)
  • Jamie/Jamey/Jami (feminized).
• Estonian: Jakob, Jaakob, Jaagup, Jaak
• Faroese: Jákup
• Finnish: Jaakko, Jaska, Jimi
• French: Jacques, Jacob, Jacquot, Jacot, Jaco, Jack (diminutive), Jacky (diminutive), Jacq (diminutive), Jacquy (diminutive), Jacqueline (feminized), Jacotte (feminized).
• Friulian: Jacum
• Galician: Xaime, Iago, Diego, Xacobe
• Georgian: იაკობი (iakobi)
• German: Jakob, Jeckel (diminutive), Jaeckel (diminutive)
• Greek: Ιακώβ (Iakōb, in the Septuagint), Ιάκωβος (Iákōbos, New Testament, subsequently Iákōvos and sometimes Yákōvos), Γιακουμής (Yakumís, colloquial, possibly also from Ιωακείμ (Joachim)), Ιακωβίνα (Iakōvína, feminized), Γιάγκος (Yiángos, probably through Slavic languages, possibly also from Ιωάννης/Γιάννης [Ioánnis/Yiánnis, John]), Ζάκης or Ζακ (Zákis or Zak, French-sounding). James (and so Jim and Jimmy) are anglicized from the Greek name Dimitri as used by the Greek diaspora in the USA, even though the names are etymologically unrelated.
• Hebrew: יעקב (Ya'aqov),קובי (Kobi : diminutive from Ya'akov)
• Hungarian: Jakab
• Icelandic: Jakob
• Indonesian: Yakub, Yakob
• Irish: Séamas/Seumas/Séamus, Shéamais (vocative, whence anglicized Hamish), Seamus(anglicized), Shamus (anglicized), Séimí (diminutive), Séimín (diminutive), Iacób
• Italian: Giacomo, Iacopo or Jacopo, Giacobbe
• Kazakh: Шамис (Shamis)
• Latin: Iacobus, Iacomus (vulgarized)
• Latvian: Jēkabs, Jākubs, Jakobs, Jakovs
• Lithuanian: Jokūbas
• Macedonian: Јаков (Yakov)
• Maltese:Ġakbu, Jakbu
• Malayalam: Chacko, Jacob (pronounced Yah-kohb)
• Malays: Yaqkub, Yaakub
• Manx: Jayms
• Māori: Hemi
• Norwegian: Jakob, Jeppe
• Occitan: Jammes, James
• Persian: یعقوب , جیمز
• Polish: Jakub, Kuba, Kubuś (diminutive)
• Portuguese: Jacó (O.T. form), Jacob, Jaime, Iago, Tiago (contracted form — used in the N.T.), Diogo. Used only in Brazil: Thiago (Brazilian "anglicized" spelling), Diego, Jaqueline (fem.)
• Provençal: Jacme
• Romanian: Iacob, Iacov
• Russian: Иаков (Iakov) (archaic O.T. form), Яков (Yakov), Яша (Yasha) (diminutive)
• Sardinian: Giagu (Logudorese), Iacu (Nuorese)
• Scottish Gaelic: Seumas, Sheumais (vocative), Hamish (anglicized)
• Serbian (Cyrillic/Latinic): Јаков/Jakov (Yakov); Јаша/Jaša (Yasha) (diminutive)
• Slovak: Jakub, Kubo, Kubko (diminutive), Jakubko (diminutive)
• Slovene: Jakob, Jaka
• Spanish: Jacobo, Jacob, Iago, Yago, Santiago (contraction of Sant+Iago = St. James), Jaime, Diego
• Swahili: Yakobo
• Swedish: Jakob
• Syriac: ܝܰܥܩܽܘܒ (Yaqub)
• Tagalog: Jaime, Santiago
• Thai: เจมส์ (Jame)
• Turkish: Yakup
• Ukrainian: Яків (Yakiv)
• Welsh: Iago, Jâms, Jago
• Yiddish: Yankel (diminutive of the Hebrew Ya'akov, a more religious form in the context of the Yiddishland - East European Jewish communities until WWII -), Yankele (diminutive of the precedent), Koppel (diminutive)

Usage

James was the most common male name in the United States in 1990. 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.

See also

• James (surname)