Jamey
A diminutive variation of James, derived from the medieval name Jacomus.
Name Census estimates that about 8,970 living Americans carry the first name Jamey. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 68.8% of registrations being male. The average person named Jamey today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jamey births was 1976 (576 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jamey. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
9.0K
~ 1 in 38,211 Americans
Peak year
1976
576 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,942
Tracked since 1944
Gender
Gender distribution for Jamey
Jamey is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 9,777 total registrations, 6,731 (68.8%) were male and 3,046 (31.2%) were female.
Jamey as a male name
- Ranked #4,942 in 2024
- 20 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1976 (430 births)
Jamey as a female name
- Ranked #14,153 in 2024
- 6 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1976 (146 births)
Popularity
Jamey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jamey from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 4,298 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jamey by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Jamey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jameys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 39 states and territories. Texas, Ohio, California recorded the most babies named Jamey, while Maine, Connecticut, South Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 125 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jamey
The name Jamey is an English variation of the biblical name James, which is derived from the Hebrew name Ya'aqov. Ya'aqov is a derivative of the root word 'aqev, meaning "heel" or "supplanter." The name James first appeared in the New Testament as the name of two of Jesus' apostles, James the son of Zebedee and James the son of Alphaeus.
Jamey emerged as a diminutive form of James during the Middle English period, around the 13th century. It was likely influenced by the French form of the name, Jacques. The name Jamey gained popularity in the English-speaking world as a more informal and affectionate variant of James.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jamey can be found in the 14th-century work "The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer, where a character named Jamey is mentioned. In the 16th century, the name appeared in the historical records of the English court, with a courtier named Jamey Fitzjames serving under King Henry VIII.
Notable historical figures with the name Jamey include Jamey Shields (1807-1879), an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States Senator from Illinois. Jamey Tart (1752-1833) was a British naval officer who gained fame for his exploits during the Napoleonic Wars.
In the literary world, Jamey Joyce (1882-1941) was an Irish novelist and poet, best known for his groundbreaking work "Ulysses." Jamey Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) was an American novelist whose works, such as "The Last of the Mohicans," helped establish the genre of American frontier literature.
Another notable figure was Jamey Whistler (1834-1903), an American painter and etcher who was a leading figure in the Aesthetic Movement. His famous work, "Whistler's Mother," is an iconic portrait that has become a symbol of American art.
People
Jamey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jamey as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jamey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jamey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,970 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jamey going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 38,211 US residents.
Is Jamey a common name?
We classify Jamey as "Rare". It ranks above 97.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,777 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jamey most popular?
The single biggest year for Jamey was 1976, when 576 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jamey is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Jamey a male name?
Yes, 68.8% of people registered as Jamey in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.