Jamerson
Masculine · “Hebrew Yaakov”
James Jamerson played bass on more American number-one records than the Beatles, the Beach Boys and Elvis Presley combined, and his name was not printed on any of them until near the end of his life.
How old is the name Jamerson?
Jamerson first appears in US birth records in 1968 — 57 years ago. The typical Jamerson alive today was born around 1997, making them about 28 years old. About 600 people named Jamerson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jamerson most popular?
Jamerson peaked in 1986, reaching #2779 nationally. Today it ranks #10695, 7,916 places below that high. See the whole 1986 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Yaakov to Jamerson
The story of Jamerson
Motown's studio band, later known as the Funk Brothers, played on almost everything the label released between 1959 and 1972, and the label did not credit them. Jamerson's bass lines are on My Girl, I Heard It Through the Grapevine, Dancing in the Street and hundreds of others, played on a single instrument he called the Funk Machine, with one finger. He died in 1983 largely unknown outside the trade, and the credit came afterwards, through books, a documentary and eventually a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The surname is a plain patronymic, son of James, and the American use of it as a given name in the 1980s is one of the small ways a musician's name enters the records.
Meaningscholars disagree
Hebrew Yaakov, of disputed meaning
Jamerson is an English and Scottish surname meaning son of James, alongside Jamieson and Jameson. James descends from Latin Iacomus and Hebrew Yaakov. The American peak of the given name is 1986.
How the name formed
- Yaakov
- James
- Jamerson
Related forms: Jameson · Jamieson
Pronouncing Jamerson
JAY-mer-sun
Three syllables, stress on the first. Jamerson and Jameson differ by one syllable and are often confused.
Nicknames for Jamerson
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1968
- Most boys named
- 201523 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2779reached in 1986
- Change vs 2024
- −25.0%6 in 2025, from 8
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Jamerson in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Jameson in English — related form
- Jamieson in Scots — related form
Jamersons among us
people named Jamerson are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 284,679 born in 2025 was named Jamerson
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Colm test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Jamerson's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Colm climbed just as high around 1965, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Colm's path sketches the road Jamerson is walking now.
Jamerson sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Jamerson beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jamerson in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Jamie works as a short form for either sex.
- The surname is genuine and its meaning is transparent.
- Three syllables with a firm opening beat.
- Jameson is the more common surname spelling.
- It reads as a surname to most Americans.
- The 1986 peak dates it closely.
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Jamerson
Masculine · #10695 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Jamersons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Jamerson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jamerson in 2025?
- Jamerson ranks #10695 among US boy names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jamerson?
- About 1 in every 284,679 US boys born in 2025 was named Jamerson — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jamerson with classmates?
- Jamerson will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jamerson
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dudley#10695 · Dell#10695 · Buford#10695 · Toney#10695 · Allison#10695 · Candido#10695 · Jodie#10695 · Nora#10695
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jamerson? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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