Find out how popular the last name James is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named James.

James, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the James surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of James in America

James is the 85th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The James surname appeared 249,379 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 85 people would have the surname James.

We can also compare 2010 data for James to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name James

The surname James originated in England and can be traced back to the 11th century. It is derived from the given name James, which comes from the Latin name Iacobus, itself a form of the Hebrew name Ya'aqov, meaning "supplanter" or "heel-catcher". The original Anglo-Norman form of the surname was Jacques, which later evolved into various spellings such as Jammes, Jamys, and eventually James.

The earliest recorded instance of the surname James appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is listed as Jacobus. This document, commissioned by William the Conqueror, was a survey of landholdings across England and Wales. The name James is believed to have been introduced to Britain by the Normans after their conquest in 1066.

One of the earliest known bearers of the surname James was William James, a Norman landowner mentioned in the Domesday Book as holding lands in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. Another notable early figure was Roger James, a monk from Canterbury who lived in the late 12th century and wrote several religious works.

During the Middle Ages, the surname James was particularly concentrated in the western counties of England, such as Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall. This may have been influenced by the presence of Celtic populations in these regions, as the name James has similarities to the Welsh name Iago and the Cornish name Jago.

In the 16th century, the James family played a prominent role in the English Reformation. John James (c. 1555-1629) was a prominent Puritan clergyman and author, while his son Thomas James (1573-1629) was a renowned biblical scholar and the first Bodley's Librarian at the University of Oxford.

Other notable historical figures with the surname James include Henry James (1843-1916), the renowned American novelist and literary critic, and Jesse James (1847-1882), the infamous American outlaw and bank robber known for his exploits in the American Old West.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name James

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname James.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for James was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of James has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name James was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of James, please contact us.

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