James

See also: james, jamés, ja mes, and ja més

English

Epistle of James on Wikipedia.Wikipedia James on Wikisource.Wikisource Wiktionary has an Appendix listing books of the Bible

Etymology

The English New Testament form of Jacob, from Middle English James, from Old French James, from Vulgar Latin Iacomus, spoken and altered pronunciation of Latin Iacobus, from Ancient Greek Ἰάκωβος (Iákōbos), from Ἰακώβ (Iakṓb), from Hebrew יַעֲקֹב (Yaʿăqōḇ). Doublet of Jacques, Jacob, Iago, Jago, Yago, Hamish, Seamus, Tiago, and Santiago. In reference to the Ecuadorian island, a modification of the earlier name Duke of York's Island after its eponymous duke's coronation as James II of England.

See Occitan Jacme for an intermediary between Old French James and Catalan Jaume.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒeɪmz/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪmz

Proper noun

James (countable and uncountable, plural Jameses)

1. (biblical) The twentieth book of the New Testament of the Bible, the general epistle of James.
2. One of two Apostles, James the Greater and James the Less, often identified with James, brother of Jesus.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 10:1–3:

     Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

3. A male given name from Hebrew popular since the Middle Ages. Also a common middle name.
   • 1810, Walter Scott, “Canto VI. The Guard-room.”, in The Lady of the Lake; […], Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for John Ballantyne and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and William Miller, →OCLC, stanza XXVIII, page 286:

     […] And Normans call me James Fitz-James. / Thus watch I o'er insulted laws, / Thus learn to right the injured cause. […]

   • 1979 Charles Kuralt, Dateline America, Harcourt Brace Jovanocich, →ISBN, page 184:

     Heaven only knows why a man with a strong biblical name like James wants to be a president named Jimmy.

   • 2017 June 8, Maeve Reston, “Trump meets the ultimate adversary in James Comey”, in CNN‎:

     In the political drama that Donald Trump has created in Washington, he could not have dreamed up a more formidable adversary than James Comey.

4. An English surname originating as a patronymic.
5. A placename
   1. An unincorporated community in Jones County, Georgia, United States.
   2. An unincorporated community in Plymouth County, Iowa, United States.
   3. A township in Timiskaming District, north-eastern Ontario, Canada.
   4. Former name of Santiago: an island of Galapagos, Ecuador.

Derived terms

• Court of St. James's
• Deeping St James
• Great Saint James
• jamescameroni
• James City
• James Island
• Jamestown
• King James
• KJV
• Little Saint James
• Pristimantis jamescameroni
• Saint James
• Saint-James
• Saint James Windward
• St. James
• St James
• St-James
• St.-James
• St James's
• Swyer-James-MacLeod syndrome
• Swyer-James syndrome

Related terms

• Jacob and its variants

pet forms

• Jaime
• Jake
• Jambo
• Jamie
• Jay
• Jem
• Jemmy
• Jim
• Jimbo
• Jimmi
• Jimmie
• Jimmy

surnames

• Jameson
• St. James

Descendants

• ⇒ English: Jim (diminutive)
  • ⇒ English: Jimmy, Jimmie, Jimmi, Jimi (diminutive)
  • ⇒ English: Jimbo (diminutive)
    • → Hindi: जिम्बो (jimbo)
  • → Hawaiian: Kimo
• ⇒ English: Jem (diminutive)
  • ⇒ English: Jemmy (diminutive)
• ⇒ English: Jamie, Jamey (diminutive)
• ⇒ English: Jay (diminutive)
• → Chinese: 詹姆斯 (Zhānmǔsī) (transliteration)
• → Cornish: Jammes, Jamma
• → Danish: James
• → Fijian: Semesa
• → Icelandic: James
• → Irish: Séamas, Séamus, Seumas
  • → English: Seamus, Shamus
• → Manx: Jayms
• → Maori: Hēmi
• → Samoan: Semisi
• → Scottish Gaelic: Seumas
  • → English: Hamish
• → Swedish: James
• → Welsh: Siâms

Translations

book of the Bible

Afrikaans: Jakobus (af) Arabic: يَعْقُوب (ar) m (yaʕqūb) Armenian: Հակոբ (hy) (Hakob) Basque: Jagoba (eu) Breton: Jakez (br) m Burmese: ရှင်ယာကုပ်​‌ဩဝါဒစာ (hrang-yakup​‌au:wada.ca) Catalan: Jaume (ca) m Cebuano: Santiago Chinese: Cantonese: 雅各書 / 雅各书 (ngaa5 gok3 syu1) Eastern Min: 雅各書 / 雅各书 (Ngā-gáuk Cṳ̆) Mandarin: 雅各書 / 雅各书 (zh) (Yǎgèshū) Corsican: Ghjàcumu (co) Czech: Jakub (cs) m Danish: Jakob (da) Dutch: Jakobus (nl) m Esperanto: Jakobo Estonian: Jaakobuse Faroese: Jákup (fo) m Finnish: Jaakobin kirje (fi) Franco-Provençal: Jâque French: Jacques (fr) m Galician: Santiago (gl) m, Xacobe (gl), Iago (gl) m German: Jakobus (de) m Greek: Ιάκωβος (el) m (Iákovos), Ιακώβ (el) m (Iakóv) Ancient Greek: Ἰάκωβος m (Iákōbos) Greenlandic: Jaaku (kl) Hawaiian: Iakobo Hebrew: אִגֶּרֶת יַעֲקֹב f (Iggèret-ya'Aqóv) Hungarian: Jakab (hu) Icelandic: Jakob (is) m Ido: Iakobus (io) m Indonesian: Yakobus Irish: Séamas (ga) m Italian: Giacomo (it) Japanese: ヤコブの手紙 (Yakobu no Tegami) Kannada: ಯಾಕೋಬನು (yākōbanu) Kazakh: Жақыптың хаты (Jaqyptyñ xaty) Khmer: យ៉ាកុប (yaakop) Latin: Iacobus (la) Latvian: Jēkaba vēstule m Limburgish: Jakobus Lithuanian: Jokū̃bo láiškas (lt) f Lombard: Giacum Malay: Yakobus Malayalam: യാക്കോബ് (yākkōbŭ) Maltese: Ġakbu (mt) m Manx: Jamys (gv) Maori: Hēmi (mi) Marathi: याकोब (yākob) Nepali: याकूब (yākūb) Ngazidja Comorian: Yakobo Norwegian: Jakob (no) Odia: ଯାକୁବଙ୍କ ପତ୍ର (jākubaṅka patra) Polish: List Jakuba m Portuguese: Tiago (pt) m Punjabi: ਯਾਕੂਬ (yākūb) Romanian: Iacob (ro) m Russian: Иа́ков (ru) (Iákov) Scots: James Scottish Gaelic: Seumas (gd) m Sicilian: Jàcumu m Slovak: Jakubov m Slovene: Jakob (sl) m Spanish: Santiago (es) Swahili: Yakobo (sw) Swedish: Jakobsbrevet n Tagalog: Santiago (tl) m Tamil: யாக்கோபு (yākkōpu) Telugu: యాకోబు (yākōbu) Thai: ยากอบ Turkish: Yakup (tr), Yakub Waray-Waray: Santiago Welsh: Iago (cy) m West Frisian: Jakobus Zealandic: Jakobus

one of two Apostles

Afrikaans: Jakobus (af) Aghwan: 𐔺𐔰𐕄𐕒𐔱 (yaḳob) Arabic: يَعْقُوب (ar) m (yaʕqūb) Aramaic: Classical Syriac: ܝܥܩܘܒ (yaʿqōḇ) Armenian: Հակոբ (hy) (Hakob) Basque: Jagoba (eu) Breton: Jakez (br) m Cebuano: Santiago Chinese: Eastern Min: 雅各 (Ngā-gáuk) Corsican: Ghjàcumu (co) Czech: Jakub (cs) m Danish: Jakob (da) Dutch: Jakobus (nl) m Estonian: Jaakobus Faroese: Jákup (fo) m Finnish: Jaakob (fi) Franco-Provençal: Jâque French: Jacques (fr) Galician: Santiago (gl) German: Jakobus (de) Greek: Ιάκωβος (el) m (Iákovos), Ιακώβ (el) m (Iakóv) Ancient: Ἰάκωβος (Iákōbos) Greenlandic: Jaaku (kl) Hawaiian: Iakobo Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב בֵּן זַבְדִי m (Ya'Aqóv bèn Zavdí) Hungarian: Jakab (hu) Icelandic: Jakob (is) m Ido: Iakobus (io) m Indonesian: Yakobus Irish: Séamas (ga) m, Naomh Séamas m Italian: Giacomo (it) Japanese: ヤコブ (Yakobu) Kazakh: Жақып (Jaqyp) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: یاقوب (yaqub) Kyrgyz: Жакып (Jakıp) Latin: Iacobus (la) Latvian: Jēkabs m Limburgish: Jakobus Lithuanian: Jokū̃bas m Maltese: Ġakbu (mt) Manx: Jamys (gv) Maori: Hēmi (mi) Norman: Jacques m Northern Sami: Jáhkot Norwegian: Jakob (no) Plautdietsch: Jakobus Polish: Jakub (pl) m Portuguese: Tiago (pt) Romanian: Iacob (ro) m Russian: Иа́ков (ru) (Iákov) Scots: James Scottish Gaelic: Seumas (gd) m Sicilian: Jàcumu m Slovak: Jakubov m Slovene: Jakob (sl) m Spanish: Santiago (es), Jacobo (es) Swahili: Yakobo (sw) Swedish: Jakob (sv) Tagalog: Santiago (tl) m Thai: ยากอบ Ukrainian: Яків (Jakiv) Vietnamese: Giacôbê (Roman Catholic), Giacơ (Protestant) Waray-Waray: Santiago Welsh: Iago (cy) m West Frisian: Jakobus Zealandic: Jakobus

male given name (the standard form)

Afrikaans: Jakobus (af), Jako, Jacobus, Jaco Aghwan: 𐔺𐔰𐕄𐕒𐔱 (yaḳob) Arabic: جَايْمْز m (jaymz) (transliteration), جَيْمْس m (jayms) Aragonese: Chaime Armenian: Հակոբ (hy) (Hakob) Azerbaijani: Ceyms Basque: Jakes Bavarian: Jakoub Belarusian: Я́каў m (Jákaw) Breton: Jagu, Jakez (br) Bulgarian: Яков m (Jakov) Catalan: Jaume (ca), Xaume Cebuano: Santiago Chinese: Eastern Min: 雅各 (Ngā-gáuk) Mandarin: 詹姆斯 (zh) (Zhānmǔsī) Cornish: Jago Corsican: Ghjàcumu (co) Czech: Jakub (cs) m Danish: Jakob (da) Dutch: Jacob (nl), Jacobus (regnal names) Esperanto: Jakobo Estonian: Jaak Faroese: Jákup (fo) m Finnish: Jaakko (fi) Franco-Provençal: Jâque French: Jacques (fr) Friulian: Jacum Galician: Iago (gl), Xacobe (gl), Xácome (gl), Xaime (gl), Santiago (gl) m Georgian: იაკობი (iaḳobi), ჯეიმზ (ǯeimz) (transliteration) German: Jakob (de) Greek: Ιάκωβος (el) m (Iákovos), Ιακώβ (el) m (Iakóv), Τζέιμς (el) (Tzéims) Ancient Greek: Ἰάκωβος m (Iákōbos) Greenlandic: Jaaku (kl) Hawaiian: Kimo, Iakopo Hebrew: (transcription) ג׳יימס m Hindi: जेम्स m (jems) Hungarian: Jakab (hu) Icelandic: Jakob (is) Ido: Iakobus (io) m Ingrian: Jaakko Irish: Séamas (ga) m, Séamus m Italian: Giacomo (it) Japanese: ジェームズ (Jēmuzu), ジェイムズ (Jeimuzu) Korean: 야고보 (Yagobo), 제임스 (Jeimseu) Latin: (Late Latin) Jacomus Latvian: Jēkabs m, (transliteration) Džeimss m Limburgish: Jakobus Lithuanian: Jokū̃bas Malay: Yakub, Yaacob (British misspelling) Maltese: Ġakbu (mt) Manx: Jamys (gv) Maori: Hēmi (mi) Marathi: जेम्स m (jemsa) Norman: Jimce m Northern Sami: Jáhkot Norwegian: Jakob (no) Occitan: Jammes, James (oc), Jacme (oc) (Provençal), Jaume (oc) m Persian: جیمز (fa) (jeymz) Polish: Jakub (pl) m Portuguese: Diogo (pt), Jaime (pt), Tiago (pt), Iago (pt) Romanian: Iacob (ro) Russian: Я́ков (ru) (Jákov), Джеймс (ru) m (Džejms) (transliteration) Sanskrit: जेम्स m (jemsa) Scots: James, Hamish Scottish Gaelic: Seumas (gd) m Sicilian: Jàcumu m Slovak: Jakub Slovene: Jakob (sl) m Spanish: Yago (es), Jaime (es), Santiago (es), Jacobo (es), Diego (es) Swahili: Yakobo (sw) Swedish: Jakob (sv) Tagalog: Jaime, Santiago (tl) Turkish: Yakub, Yakup (tr) Ukrainian: Я́ків m (Jákiv) Walloon: Djåke (wa) Waray-Waray: Santiago Welsh: Iago (cy) West Frisian: Jakobus Zealandic: Jakobus

Statistics

• According to 100 years of data from the Social Security Administration (SSA), James is the 2nd most common given name in the United States, belonging to 3,378,000 individuals.
• According to the 2010 United States Census, James is the 85th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 249,379 individuals. James is most common among White (51.6%) and Black/African American (38.9%) individuals.

Further reading

• Popularity of the Name James
• James Last Name Popularity, Meaning, and Origin

Anagrams

• Semaj

Cebuano

Etymology

From English James, the English New Testament form of Jacob, from Old French James, from Vulgar Latin Iacomus, spoken and altered pronunciation of Latin Iacobus, from Ancient Greek Ἰάκωβος (Iákōbos), from Ἰακώβ (Iakṓb), from Biblical Hebrew יַעֲקֹב (Yaʿăqōḇ).

Proper noun

James

1. a male given name from English [in turn from Hebrew]

Danish

Etymology

From English James in the 19th century.

Proper noun

James

1. a male given name

French

Etymology

From Old French James, from Vulgar Latin Iacomus, spoken and altered pronunciation of Latin Iacobus, from Ancient Greek Ἰάκωβος (Iákōbos), from Ἰακώβ (Iakṓb), from Hebrew יַעֲקֹב (Yaʿăqōḇ).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʒɛms/, /ʒam/

Proper noun

James

1. a male given name

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈd͡ʒeːms]
• Hyphenation: James
• Rhymes: -eːms

Proper noun

James

1. James

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	James	Jamesek
accusative	Jamest	Jameseket
dative	Jamesnek	Jameseknek
instrumental	Jamesszel	Jamesekkel
causal-final	Jamesért	Jamesekért
translative	Jamesszé	Jamesekké
terminative	Jamesig	Jamesekig
essive-formal	Jamesként	Jamesekként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	Jamesben	Jamesekben
superessive	Jamesen	Jameseken
adessive	Jamesnél	Jameseknél
illative	Jamesbe	Jamesekbe
sublative	Jamesre	Jamesekre
allative	Jameshez	Jamesekhez
elative	Jamesből	Jamesekből
delative	Jamesről	Jamesekről
ablative	Jamestől	Jamesektől
non-attributive possessive – singular	Jamesé	Jameseké
non-attributive possessive – plural	Jameséi	Jamesekéi

Possessive forms of James

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	Jamesem	Jameseim
2nd person sing.	Jamesed	Jameseid
3rd person sing.	Jamese	Jamesei
1st person plural	Jamesünk	Jameseink
2nd person plural	Jamesetek	Jameseitek
3rd person plural	Jamesük	Jameseik

Derived terms

• jamesi

Middle English

Alternative forms

• Ȝame, Gemes, Iam, Iames, Iamys, Iame, Ieme

Etymology

From Old French James, from Vulgar Latin Iacomus, spoken and altered pronunciation of Latin Iacobus, from Ancient Greek Ἰάκωβος (Iákōbos), from Ἰακώβ (Iakṓb), from Hebrew יַעֲקֹב (Yaʿăqōḇ).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdʒaːməs/, /dʒaːmz/, /ˈdʒɛːm(ə)s/, /ˈdʒaːm(ə)/

Proper noun

James

1. James the Greater or James the Less (apostles)
2. James (a male given name from Old French)
3. James (a surname)

Descendants

• ⇒ English: James
  • ⇒ English: Jim (diminutive)
    • ⇒ English: Jimmy, Jimmie, Jimmi, Jimi (diminutive)
    • ⇒ English: Jimbo (diminutive)
      • → Hindi: जिम्बो (jimbo)
    • → Hawaiian: Kimo
  • ⇒ English: Jem (diminutive)
    • ⇒ English: Jemmy (diminutive)
  • ⇒ English: Jamie, Jamey (diminutive)
  • ⇒ English: Jay (diminutive)
  • → Chinese: 詹姆斯 (Zhānmǔsī) (transliteration)
  • → Cornish: Jammes, Jamma
  • → Danish: James
  • → Fijian: Semesa
  • → Icelandic: James
  • → Irish: Séamas, Séamus, Seumas
    • → English: Seamus, Shamus
  • → Manx: Jayms
  • → Maori: Hēmi
  • → Samoan: Semisi
  • → Scottish Gaelic: Seumas
    • → English: Hamish
  • → Swedish: James
  • → Welsh: Siâms
• ⇒ Scots: Jeams
  • ⇒ Scots: Jeamie, Jeemie, Jamie, Jaimie (diminutive)
  • ⇒ Scots: Jeamock (diminutive)
  • ⇒ Scots: Jamesie (diminutive)
  • ⇒ Scots: Jizer (diminutive)
  • ⇒ Scots: Peem, Pim (diminutive)
    • ⇒ Scots: Pimmie (diminutive)
    • ⇒ Scots: Peemser (diminutive)
• Yola: Jaames

References

• “Jāme, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 3 May 2018.

Swedish

Etymology

From English James in the 19th century.

Proper noun

James c (genitive James)

1. a male given name

References

Statistics Sweden: 5548 males with the given name James living in Sweden on December 31st, 2013, with the highest frequency so far in 2013. Accessed on 12 April 2014.