(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, Scottish, and Irish: from Middle English whit ‘white’, hence a nickname for someone with white hair or an unnaturally pale complexion. In some cases it represents a Middle English personal name, from an Old English byname, Hwīt(a), of this origin. As a Scottish and Irish surname it has been widely used as a translation of the many Gaelic names based on bán ‘white’ (see Bain 1) or fionn ‘fair’ (see Finn 1). There has also been some confusion with Wight.
Translated form of cognate and equivalent names in other languages, such as German Weiss, French Blanc, Polish Białas (see Bialas), etc.
FOREBEARS Peregrine White (1620–1704), brother of Resolved, was born in Cape Cod harbor on board the Mayflower, thus becoming the first child of English descent to be born in New England. His father, William White, was the son of the rector of Barham, near Ipswich, Suffolk, England; he died in 1621 during the first winter at Plymouth Colony.John White, who came to Cambridge, MA, in 1632 and who was later one of the founders of Hartford, CT, is the ancestor of a noted American family, which included the architect Stanford White (1853–1906). The name was brought to North America from the British Isles independently by many other bearers from the 17th century onward.
