(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: occupational name for the servant of a parish priest or parson, or a patronymic denoting the child of a parson, from the possessive case of Middle English persone, parsoun (see Parson).
English: many early examples are found with prepositions (e.g. Ralph del Persones 1323); these are habitational names, with the omission of house, hence in effect occupational names for servants employed at the parson's house.
Irish: usually of English origin (see above), but sometimes a reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac an Phearsain, which is of Highland Scottish origin (see McPherson).
FOREBEARS Members of an Irish family called Parsons wre twice created earl of Rosse, first in 1718 and again in 1806. They settled in Ireland c.1590, when two brothers, William and Laurence Parsons, were granted large estates. Birr Castle, Parsonstown, became the family seat. Samuel Holden Parsons, born Lyme, CT, in 1737 was a Connecticut legislator and revolutionary war officer. Theophilius Parsons (1750–1813) was born in Byfield, MA, and was chief justice of the MA supreme court (1806–13); his son, also Theophilius, was a professor at Harvard Law School (1848–1869).
