Namebino · Girl names · Boy names
Boy's name · #6 in the US (2025) · Timeless
99% boys · 1% girls — James is also given to girls: 59 in 2025, about 1 in 170 in recent years. James →
James has held steady since 1880, standing at #6 in 2025. It has spent 13 years as America's #1 name.
See where James is more common.
Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 51 states, the #1 boy's name in 1 of them. See the full state-by-state map on this page.
James is especially popular in N. Ireland, Ireland, and the Netherlands.
#3 in N. Ireland (2025) · #4 in Ireland (2025) · #6 in Netherlands (2025) · #13 in New Zealand (2025) · #14 in Scotland (2025) · #15 in Australia (NSW) (2025) · #17 in Australia (QLD) (2025) · #30 in Australia (VIC) (2025) · #42 in England & Wales (2025) · #70 in Belgium (2025) · #101 in Switzerland (2025) · #144 in Ecuador (2025) and 6 more.
Among 28,148 notable people named James:
Military figures appear 2.45× more often than among typical names — e.g. James Cook, British explorer, cartographer and naval officer (1728–1779).
Popular twin pairings with James include John and William for boys, and Emma and Julia for girls.
About 790 boys a year are given Jake as their full name, 470 Jamie, and 310 Jimmy.
Similar names: David · Jameson · William · John · Joseph · Thomas
Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.