Jamye
A feminine diminutive form of the name James, derived from Jacob.
Name Census estimates that about 758 living Americans carry the first name Jamye. It is a predominantly female name (98.6% of registrations). The average person named Jamye today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jamye births was 1976 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jamye. 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
758
~ 1 in 452,183 Americans
Peak year
1976
39 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
1988 SSA rank
#6,050
Tracked since 1947
Gender
Gender distribution for Jamye
Jamye leans heavily female at 98.6% of total registrations, but 12 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Jamye as a male name
- Ranked #6,050 in 1988
- 7 male births in 1988
- Peak: 1988 (7 births)
Jamye as a female name
- Ranked #12,700 in 2012
- 8 female births in 2012
- Peak: 1976 (39 births)
Popularity
Jamye: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jamye from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 211 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jamye 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 Jamye during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jamyes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jamye
The name Jamye has its origins in the ancient Semitic languages, tracing back to the Hebrew name Yaakov (Jacob). The name is derived from the root word "aqeb," which means "heel" or "supplanter." This reference is believed to allude to the biblical story of Jacob being born holding onto the heel of his twin brother, Esau.
In the Hebrew Bible, Jacob is one of the most prominent figures, being the son of Isaac and Rebekah and the grandson of Abraham. He is revered as one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and is an important figure in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
The name Jamye is a variant spelling of the more common name James, which is the English form of the Latin name Iacobus, which in turn is derived from the Greek form of the Hebrew name, Iakobos. This name was popularized in the New Testament, where it was borne by two of the Twelve Apostles, James the son of Zebedee and James the son of Alphaeus.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Jamye dates back to the 12th century, when it was borne by Jamye de Vaux, a French nobleman and crusader who fought in the Third Crusade alongside King Richard the Lionheart.
Another notable figure with the name Jamye was Jamye Blunt, an English explorer and navigator who accompanied Sir Walter Raleigh on his expeditions to the New World in the late 16th century. Blunt played a crucial role in establishing the first English settlements in Virginia and is credited with mapping the Chesapeake Bay area.
In the 17th century, Jamye Howell was a renowned Welsh clergyman and author who wrote extensively on church history and theology. His works, such as "An Institution of General History" and "A Discourse Concerning the Precedency of Kings," were widely read and influential during his time.
In the realm of literature, Jamye Fenimore Cooper, born in 1789, was an American writer and one of the most popular novelists of his time. He is best known for his historical novels set in frontier America, including "The Last of the Mohicans" and "The Deerslayer."
Finally, in the 20th century, Jamye Earl Jones, born in 1931, is an American actor renowned for his distinctive bass voice. He is best known for his iconic roles as Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise and as the voice of Mufasa in Disney's "The Lion King."
People
Jamye + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jamye 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
Jamye: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jamye?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 758 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jamye 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 452,183 US residents.
Is Jamye a common name?
We classify Jamye as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 847 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jamye most popular?
The single biggest year for Jamye was 1976, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jamye is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Jamye a female name?
Yes, 98.6% of people registered as Jamye in the SSA data are female. 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.