James

James is a common given name. It is the most popular name for a male in the United States, and during the 1990 U.S. Census, approximately 3.3% of males counted had the first name James. It is derived from the same Hebrew name as Jacob, meaning "one who grabs heels".

Etymology

The name came into English from the French variation Gemmes of the Late Latin Iacomus, a substandard dialect variant of Iacobus, from New Testament Greek Ἰάκωβος (Iakōbos), from Hebrew יעקב (Yaʻaqov). Cognates include Jacob.

Translations

• Amharic: ያዕቆብ (Ya`iqob)
• Afrikaans: Jakob, or Jacobus
• Arabic: يعقوب (Yaʻqub)
• Armenian: Հակոբ (western Hagop, eastern Hakob)
• Azerbaijani: Yaqub
• Basque: Jakes
• Belarusian: Jakub
• Breton: Jagu
• Bulgarian: Яков, (Yakov)
• Catalan: Jaim, Jaume, Xaume
• Chinese: 雅各 (pinyin: yǎgè), 詹姆士 (pinyin: zhānmǔshì), 詹姆斯 (pinyin: zhānmǔsī)
• Cornish: Jago, Jammes, Jamma
• Croatian: Jakov
• Czech: Jakub, Jakoubek, Kubicek (diminutive), Kubes Kubes, Kuba (diminutive)
• Danish: Jakob, Jeppe, Ib.
• Dutch: Jacobus, Jaap (diminutive), Cobus (diminutive), Coos (diminutive), Chime (diminutive)
• Finnish: Jaakob, Jaakoppi, Jaakko
• French: Jacques, Jame, Gemmes (Normandy), Gemme (Normandy), Jacomo
• Korean: 야고보 (romaja: Yagobo)
• Galician: Xaime, Iago, Diego, Xacobe
• German: Jakob, Jeckel (diminutive), Jaeckel (diminutive)
• Modern Greek: Ιάκωβος (Iakovos)
• Hawaiian: Kimo
• Hebrew: ג'ימבו (Jimbo), ג'יימס (James)
• Hungarian: Jakab
• Icelandic: Jón
• Indonesian: Yakob, Yakobus
• Italian: Giacomo, Iago, Giacobbe, Lapo
• Irish: Séamas, Shéamais (vocative), Seamus (anglicized), Shamus (anglicized), Séimí (diminutive), Séimín (diminutive)
• Japanese: Most common:ジェームズ (romaji:Jēmuzu) Also: ジェイムス

(romaji:Jeimusu) and ジェムス (romaji:Jemusu)

• Latin: Iacobus, Jacomus
• Malayalam: യാക്കോബ്‌ (Yacob), ചാക്കോ (Chacko)
• Manx: Jayms
• Norwegian: Jakob, Jeppe
• Occitan: Jammes, James
• Portuguese: Jacó, Jaime, Iago, Thiago, Tiago, Diogo, Diego
• Polish: Jakub, Kuba, Kubuś (diminutive)
• Provençal: Jacme
• Romanian: Iacob, Iacov
• Russian: Яков (Yakov), Яша (Yasha) (diminutive)
• Scottish Gaelic: Seumas, Sheumais (vocative), Hamish (anglicized)
• Serbian (Cyrillic/Latinic): Јаков/Jakov (Yakov); Јаша/Jaša (Yasha) (diminutive)
• Spanish: Santiago, Jaime, Diego, Yago, Jacobo
• Syriac: ܝܰܥܩܽܘܒ (Yaqub)
• Swedish: Jakob
• Tagalog: Jaime
• Turkish: Yakup
• Welsh: Siam, Iago
• Yiddish: Yankel (diminutive), Koppel (diminutive)

Famous persons with the given name James

Religious Figures

See also James (saints)

• Saint James the Great or Saint James of Compostela, brother of John the Apostle
• Saint James the Less, a brother of the apostle Matthew and the son of Mary (not Mary, mother of Jesus)
• James the Just, brother of Jesus and believed to have written one of the books of the New Testament, the Epistle of James.

Kings of Scotland and/or England

• James I of Scotland (1394–1437), king of Scotland from 1406 until 1437 (from 1406 to 1424 he was king in name only)
• James II of Scotland (1430–1460) king of Scotland from 1437 to 1460
• James III of Scotland (1451/1452–1488), king of Scotland from 1460 to 1488
• James IV of Scotland (1473–1513) was king of Scotland from 1488 to 1513
• James V of Scotland (1512–1542) was king of Scotland from 1513 to 1542
• James I of England (James VI of Scotland) (1566–1625) was king of England, Scotland and Ireland, and was the first Sovereign to reign in the three realms simultaneously
• James II of England (James VII of Scotland) (1633–1701) was king of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1685 to 1688, and was the last Catholic monarch to reign over England, Scotland, or Ireland

Kings of Aragon

• James I of Aragon (1208–1276), surnamed the Conqueror, was the king of Aragon, count of Barcelona and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276
• James II of Aragon (1267–1327), called The Just (Catalan: El Just) was the second son of Peter III of Aragon and Constance of Sicily

Presidents of the United States of America

• James Madison (1751-1836), 4th President of the United States
• James Monroe (1758-1831), 5th President of the United States
• James Buchanan (1791-1868), 15th President of the United States
• James K. Polk (1795-1849), 11th President of the United States
• James Garfield (1831-1881), 20th President of the United States
• Jimmy (James Earl) Carter (1924-) 39th President of the United States

Vice Presidents of the United States of America

• James Schoolcraft Sherman (1855-1912), 27th Vice President under Howard Taft, died in office
• James Danforth Quayle (1947-), 44th Vice President under George H. W. Bush

Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom

• James Callaghan (1912-2005), Labour Prime Minister for 1976-1979

Musicians, bands

• James (band), a band from Manchester, England
• James Paul McCartney (1942-), British vocalist, songwriter, and bass guitarist of The Beatles
• James Marshall Hendrix (1942-1970), American guitarist, singer, and songwriter
• James Patrick Page (1944-), guitarist for rock band Led Zeppelin
• James Vernon Taylor (1948-), American singer, songwriter, and guitarist
• James Douglas Morrison (1943-1971), singer, songwriter and poet of rock band The Doors
• James Hetfield (1963-), co-founder, lead singer, main songwriter and rhythm guitarist for the band Metallica
• James "JT" Taylor (1953-), solo artist and former lead singer of the funk/R&B band Kool & The Gang
• James LaBrie (1963-), Canadian vocalist of progressive metal band Dream Theater
• James Shaffer (1970), Lead guitarist of rock band KoRn
• James Dean Bradfield (1969-), vocalist and lead guitarist with Welsh rock band the Manic Street Preachers
• James Newell Osterberg, Jr. (1947-), better known as Iggy Pop, one of the first punk rock musicians, singer, guitarist, actor and producer
• James "Big Jim" Wright (1966-) producer, singer, musician, and a Grammy award winning songwriter. He is a junior partner at Flyte Time Productions
• James Darren (1936-), American television and film actor, television director, and singer
• Jimmy Eat World is an American rock group from Mesa, Arizona, formed in 1993
• James Blunt, British pop musician

Other

• James Boswell (1740-1795), lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland]
• James Caan, actor, appeared as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather
• James Cagney (1899-1986), American film actor
• James Cook (1728–1779), British explorer and navigator
• James Cromwell (b. 1940), American television and film actor
• James Dean (1931–1955), actor
• James Doohan (1920-2005), Irish-Canadian character and voice actor best known for his portrayal of Scotty in the television and film series Star Trek
• James Earl Jones (b. 1932), actor
• James Earl Ray (1928–1998), the convicted assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr.
• James Gandolfini, actor who plays Tony Soprano on "The Sopranos"
• James King, model and actress, also known as Jaime King
• James Morgan (1776-1856), British architect and engineer
• James Randi (b. 1928), stage magician and skeptic, most notably a debunker of claims of the paranormal
• James Stewart (1908-1997), American film actor
• James Wales (b. 1966), the founder and President of the Wikimedia Foundation
• James Worthy (b. 1961), college and professional basketball player from Gastonia, North Carolina
• James Root (b. 1971), current guitar player for Slipknot and Stone Sour
• James P. Hoffa (b. 1941) is the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He is the only son of Jimmy Hoffa

Fictional characters

• James Henry Trotter, orphan featured in the Roald Dahl book James and the Giant Peach
• James the Red Engine, fictional steam engine in Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends
• James Bond, fictional spy featured in novels and films
• James Hacker, fictional British cabinet member and then Prime Minister in Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister
• James Hook, pirate captain in Peter Pan
• James Howlett, birth name of Wolverine (comics), Marvel Superhero and X-Men team member.
• Jimmy James, owner of WNYX, the radiostation of NewsRadio
• James T. Kirk (2233-2294), fictional sci-fi captain from Star Trek
• Jamie McCrimmon, one of the Doctor's companion in the BBC TV series Doctor Who
• James Moriarty, fictional character who is the best known antagonist of the detective Sherlock Holmes
• James Potter, father of Harry Potter
• Dr. James Wilson, fictional oncologist in FOX's TV series House
• Jim Hawkins, fictional character from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island

Animals

• Seamus, the dog of singer Steve Marriott, can be heard on the Small Faces track "The Universal" and more prominently on the Pink Floyd track "Seamus".

Famous persons with the family name James

See James (surname)

See also

• Wikipedia articles related to the name James
• Wikipedia articles related to the name Jimmy