James
Most Poles have never met a James: it stays rare here, given only to boys, though a little more freely now than a decade ago. A Hebrew name at root, carrying the sense of "supplanter".
James Pronunciation
James is pronounced YAH-mes (/ˈjamɛs/).
What James means
Where James comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
James descends from the Hebrew name Ya'aqov, the Jacob of Genesis, who was born gripping his twin brother's heel. That grip gave the meaning "supplanter", one who takes another's place. The Hebrew traveled into Greek and then Latin, where Iacobus split off a second form, Iacomus, and it is from that softer Latin variant that James eventually took shape.
The name became thoroughly English. Several Scottish kings carried it, and James VI of Scotland became James I of England in 1603. Under him, in 1611, the translation we still call the King James Bible appeared. That single book fixed the English spelling of the name in millions of homes.
Polish readers meet it as a borrowed English form rather than the native Jakub. The Polish gloss reads "ten, który podąża", one who follows, a gentler sense than the old supplanter. On a school register in Warsaw a James now sits a few names from a Jakub, both grown from Ya'aqov.
How many people are named James
1 in 14298 men in Poland is named James. 1,493 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #798 among male names.
James's popularity over time
10 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #698 among newborns. It has been stable for a decade.
Where James is most popular
James is most popular in Lubusz, 181% above the national average (2 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Lower Silesian (+166%) and Masovian (+97%). It is least common in Silesian and Pomeranian, 39% and 5% below average respectively.
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Lubusz2 boys born+181%
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Lower Silesian6 boys born+166%
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Masovian10 boys born+97%
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Lesser Poland6 boys born+84%
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Greater Poland3 boys born−3%
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Pomeranian2 boys born−5%
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Silesian2 boys born−39%
James as a middle name
James is a first name for 1,493 men in Poland and a middle name for another 2,511, a 37/63 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 161st, between Bruno (2,546) and Peter (2,478).
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159
2,571Paul
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160
2,546Bruno
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1612,511James
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162
2,478Peter
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163
2,470Beniamin