James

Encyclopedia : J : JA : JAM : 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 "grasps by the heel" or "supplanter," probably in a deceiving way (In the bible Jacob was born grasping Esau's heel and later bought his birthright).

Contents

1 Etymology
2 Translations
3 Famous persons with the given name James

3.1 Religious Figures
3.2 Kings of Scotland and/or England
3.3 Kings of Aragon
3.4 Presidents of the United States of America
3.5 Vice Presidents of the United States of America
3.6 Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom
3.7 Musicians, bands
3.8 Other
3.9 Fictional characters
3.10 Animals
3.11 Variant of the James

4 Famous persons with the family name James
5 See also

Etymology

The name came into English from the French variation Gemmes of the Late Latin word Iacomus, a substandard dialect variant of Iacobus, from the 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, Jagut, Jacut, Jak, Jakes, Jakez, Jakezig, Jakou
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: Jacob(us), Jakob, Jaap (diminutive), Cobus (diminutive), Coos (diminutive), Chime (diminutive)
English: Jacob, Jakob (uncommon, by way of German, Yiddish, etc.), Jacoby (rare, chiefly American, and originally a surname), Jake (diminutive), Jakey (diminutive), Jackie (diminutive, chiefly British), Jack (diminutive, also taken as short for John), Coby (diminutive, uncommon, chiefly American); James, Jamie (diminutive, chiefly British), Jaime/Jaimie (diminutive, uncommon, chiefly American, and by way of Spanish), Jim (diminutive), Jimmy/Jimmi/Jimi (diminutive); Jacqueline/Jaqueline (feminized, by way of French), Jacqui/Jaqui (feminized diminutive), Jackie (feminized diminutive, chiefly American), Jacki (feminized diminutive), Jamie (feminized, chiefly American), Jamey/Jami (feminized)
Finnish: Jaakob, Jaakoppi, Jaakko
French: Jacques, Jacob, Jacquot, Jacot, Jaco, Jack (diminutive), Jacky (diminutive), Jacq (diminutive), Jacquy(diminutive), Jame, Gemmes (Normandy), Gemme (Normandy), Jacomo; Jacqueline (feminized)
Korean: 야고보 (romaja: Yagobo)
Galician: Xaime, Iago, Diego, Xacobe
German: Jakob, Jeckel (diminutive), Jaeckel (diminutive)
Modern Greek: Ιάκωβος (Iakovos)
Hawaiian: Kimo
Hebrew: יעקב (Ya'aqov)
Hungarian: Jakab
Icelandic: Jakob
Indonesian: Yakob, Yakobus
Italian: Giacomo, Jacopo, Giacobbe, Lapo
Irish: Séamas/Séumas, Shéamais (vocative, whence anglicized Hamish), 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, Iacomus (vulgarized)
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: Jacobo, Iago, Yago, Santiago, Diego, Jaime
Syriac: ܝܰܥܩܽܘܒ (Yaqub)
Swedish: Jakob
Tagalog: Jaime
Turkish: Yakup
Ukrainian: Яків (Yakiv)
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 movie "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 Watt (1736-1819) Scottish engineer and inventor
James Whale (1889-1957) English film director. Directed over 20 Hollywood films.
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 Roald Dahl's 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, fictional owner of WNYX, the radiostation of the TV show 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
James of Team Rocket from Pokémon

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".

Variant of the James

Jimmy Wales (b. 1966), the founder and President of the Wikimedia Foundation

Famous persons with the family name James

See James (surname)