Last name: JAMES
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All you have to know about the last name JAMES
Last name frequency
JAMES : This last name is indexed 1,439,209 times on Geneanet!Origin of last name
JAMES : English and Welsh: from the Middle English personal name James. Introduced to England by the Normans this is an Old French form of Late Latin Iacomus a variant of Latin Iacobus Greek Iakōbos the New Testament rendering of Hebrew Ya‘aqob (see Jacob). The medieval Latin (Vulgate) Bible distinguished between Old Testament Iacob (which was uninflected) and New Testament Iacobus (with inflections). The latter developed into James in medieval French. The distinction was carried over into the King James Bible of 1611 and Jacob and James remain as separate names in English usage. Most European languages however make no such distinction so that forms such as French Jacques stand for both the Old and the New Testament names. This surname is also very common among African Americans. Compare Jack.
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Most popular first names
- John (78,343)
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- Thomas (48,640)
- Mary (30,710)
- Henry (30,483)
- James (28,995)
- Elizabeth (25,281)
- George (20,351)
- Richard (17,767)
- Charles (16,725)
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- Joseph (15,768)
- Sarah (14,283)
- Edward (14,103)
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- David (13,189)
- Ann (12,043)
- Marie (11,570)
- Jean (10,438)
- Mr. (10,342)
- Anne (9,943)
- Samuel (9,865)
- Jane (9,806)
- Frank (9,126)
- Margaret (8,192)
- Mrs. (7,466)
- Pierre (7,007)
- Louis (6,433)
- Benjamin (5,724)
- Francis (5,620)
- François (5,573)
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- Hannah (5,497)
- Arthur (5,491)
- Walter (5,224)
- Catherine (4,982)
- Mary Ann (4,924)
- Jeanne (4,848)
- Martha (4,739)
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- Howard (2,681)
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- Otago (2,590)
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- California (1,328)
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- Ludgvan (1,277)
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Most indexed countries
- United Kingdom (613,000)
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- Ireland (11,714)
- Unknown country (8,990)
- Spain (3,693)
- Netherlands (3,273)
- Switzerland (3,145)
- Germany (2,165)
- Italy (2,147)
- Belgium (1,847)
- Jamaica (1,181)
- Denmark (1,090)
- Mexico (852)
- India (842)
Available collections for this name
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(595,262) - Family Trees
(359,960) - Newspapers
(248,203) - Books
(209,488) - Other
(10,986) - Obituaries
(8,885) - Magazines
(4,200) - Cemeteries
(1,260) - Memorials
(671) - Coats of Arms
(274) - Other Collaborative Records
(16) - Memory of places
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