James Boy
How popular is James?
#6 boy name in 2025
11,945 baby boys were named James in the US in 2025, making it the 6th most popular boy name. Another 59 girls got the name (#2,859 for girls).
James popularity over time
Boys Girls
| Rank in 2025 | #6 for boys (▼ 1 from 2024) |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 11,945 boys, 59 girls |
| 10-year trend | Falling (-20% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #7 in 2015, #6 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 1947 (94,767 boys) |
| Highest rank | #1 in 1940 (13 years at that rank) |
| First recorded | 1880 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 99% boys, 1% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 8% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
James counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the James family of names ranked #9 for boys in 2025, with 11,972 babies in all.
| Spelling | Boys in 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| James | 11,945 | 100% |
| Jaymes | 15 | 0% |
| Jamez | 6 | 0% |
| Jamais | 6 | 0% |
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where James is most popular
Babies named James per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
- District of Columbia: 17.5 per 1,000 (258 boys)
- Wyoming: 17.5 per 1,000 (101 boys)
- Alaska: 14.4 per 1,000 (171 boys)
- Mississippi: 14.3 per 1,000 (810 boys)
- New Hampshire: 13.6 per 1,000 (301 boys)
James by decade
| Decade | Baby boys | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 54,055 | #3 |
| 1890s | 50,723 | #3 |
| 1900s | 62,170 | #3 |
| 1910s | 275,070 | #2 |
| 1920s | 515,301 | #2 |
| 1930s | 547,479 | #2 |
| 1940s | 795,775 | #1 |
| 1950s | 843,768 | #1 |
| 1960s | 684,722 | #3 |
| 1970s | 444,713 | #2 |
| 1980s | 356,491 | #5 |
| 1990s | 244,980 | #7 |
| 2000s | 163,179 | #15 |
| 2010s | 139,689 | #4 |
| 2020s | 72,523 | #4 |
Boy names about as popular as James
Questions
- Is James a boy or girl name?
- James is mostly a boy name. Over the last 10 years, 99% of babies named James were boys.
- How popular is the name James?
- 11,945 baby boys were named James in the US in 2025, making it the 6th most popular boy name. Another 59 girls got the name (#2,859 for girls).
- When was James most popular?
- James peaked in 1947, when 94,767 boys were given the name. Its highest rank was #1, held for 13 years starting in 1940.
- How many people are named James?
- 5,274,520 babies have been named James in the US since 1880. We estimate about 2,990,962 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 59.
- Where is James most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, James was most common in District of Columbia, at 17.5 of every 1,000 boys born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.