James

James is the English form of the Late Latin name Iacomus, a variant of the Biblical Latin Iacobus, from the Hebrew Yaʿaqov (see Jacob). It was borne by two apostles in the New Testament: Saint James the Greater, brother of the apostle John, who was beheaded under Herod Agrippa in Acts, and James the Lesser, son of Alphaeus; the Bible also mentions James the Just, the brother of Jesus. The name has been used in England since the 13th century but became more common in Scotland, where several kings bore it, and it rose further in popularity when James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne in the 17th century as the first ruler of all Britain. In U.S. records since 1880, it has never fallen out of the top 20 and ranked first for boys from 1940 to 1952. Notable bearers include James Cook, James Watt, and James Joyce, and the name has been held by six American presidents; a famous fictional bearer is James Bond, created by Ian Fleming in 1953.

James climbed to #1 for boys from 1940 through 1952. It has nevertheless remained in the top 10 through 2025, when it ranked #6. Its highest annual birth count came in 1947, with 94,767 births.