(male) English form of the name borne in the New Testament by two of Christ's disciples, James son of Zebedee and James son of Alphaeus. This form comes from Late Latin Iacomus, a variant of Iacobus, Latin form of Greek Iakobos. This is the same name as Old Testament Jacob (Hebrew Yaakov), but for many centuries now they have been thought of in the English-speaking world as two distinct names. In Britain, James is a royal name that from the beginning of the 15th century onwards was associated particularly with the Scottish house of Stewart: James I of Scotland (1394–1437; ruled 1424–37) was a patron of the arts and a noted poet, as well as an energetic ruler. King James VI of Scotland (1566–1625; reigned 1567–1625) succeeded to the throne of England in 1603. His grandson, James II of England (1633–1701; reigned 1685–8) was a Roman Catholic, deposed in 1688 in favour of his Protestant daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange. From then on he, his son (also called James), and his grandson Charles (‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’) made various unsuccessful attempts to recover the English throne. Their supporters were known as Jacobites (from Latin Iacobus), and the name James became for a while particularly associated with Roman Catholicism on the one hand, and Highland opposition to the English government on the other. Nevertheless, it has since become one of the most perennially popular boys' names.
Short form: Jim.
Pet forms: Jamey, Jamie, Jimmy, Jimmie.
Cognates: Irish: Séamas, Séamus, Seumas, Seumus. Scottish Gaelic: Seumas. Scottish (Anglicized); Hamish. Dutch: Jaume. French: Jacques. Spanish: Jaime. Catalan: Jaume. Portuguese: Jaime(s). Italian: Giacomo.
English, French, Danish, Dutch, and German: from a short form of the personal name Matthias (see Matthew) or any of its many cognates, for example Norman French Maheu.
English, French, Dutch, and German: from a nickname or personal name taken from the month of May (Middle English, Old French mai, Middle High German meie, from Latin Maius (mensis), from Maia, a minor Roman goddess of fertility). This name was sometimes bestowed on someone born or baptized in the month of May; it was also used to refer to someone of a sunny disposition, or who had some anecdotal connection with the month of May, such as owing a feudal obligation then.
English: nickname from Middle English may ‘young man or woman’.
Irish (Connacht and Midlands): when not of English origin (see 1–3 above), this is an Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Miadhaigh ‘descendant of Miadhach’, a personal name or byname meaning ‘honorable’, ‘proud’.
French: habitational name from any of various places called May or Le May.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from Mayen, a place in western Germany.
Americanized spelling of cognates of 1 in various European languages, for example Swedish Ma(i)j.
Chinese 梅: possibly a variant of Mei 1, although this spelling occurs more often for the given name than for the surname.
FOREBEARS Cape May, at the mouth of Delaware Bay, is named after the Dutch explorer Cornelius Jacobsen May.
