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Jaymes

Masculine · “supplanter”

Jaymes is given to both — 2,430 boys and 137 girls since 1880. See other names given to both

1950high 1986
#5861 in the U.S.given to only a few children a year
rare15 boys in 2025

Jaymes takes one of the most stable names in English and applies the ay digraph to it. James has been spelled the same way for five hundred years and belongs to six kings; Jaymes rewrites its vowel with the device that produced Jayden, Kayden and Braylen. Its American peak is 1986, which puts it at the front edge of that whole spelling fashion.

How old is the name Jaymes?

Jaymes first appears in US birth records in 1950 — 75 years ago. The typical Jaymes alive today was born around 1995, making them about 30 years old. About 2,300 people named Jaymes are estimated to be alive in the US today.

When was the name Jaymes most popular?

Jaymes peaked in 1986, reaching #754 nationally. Today it ranks #5861, 5,107 places below that high. See the whole 1986 chart.

Compare this nameMore “J” names

Lists built from the same records:

I

Where it comes from

The story of Jaymes

James came into English through Norman French, and the two English forms Jacob and James descend from the same Hebrew name by different routes — a rare case of one original producing two distinct English names. Six Scottish kings and two English ones carried it, and the King James Bible fixed the spelling permanently. Which makes the respelling notable: from about 1980 American parents began applying the ay digraph even to names that had no spelling ambiguity at all, and Jaymes is a clear case. The vowel was never in doubt; the respelling is about ownership rather than clarity.

Meaningscholars disagree

supplanter, or 'may God protect'

Hebrew Yaaqov produced Greek Iakobos and Latin Iacobus, and a Late Latin variant Iacomus is where the m in James and Jacques comes from. The traditional reading, 'supplanter' or 'heel-holder', comes from the Genesis story of Jacob grasping Esau's heel, but many scholars regard that as an explanation attached to the name afterwards. The alternative reads the name as a shortened theophoric form meaning 'may God protect'. Both are seriously held.

How the name formed

  1. Yaaqov
  2. Iacomus
  3. James
  4. Jaymes

Related forms: James · Jacques · Jaime · Giacomo

Pronouncing Jaymes

JAYMZ

One syllable, exactly as James. The ay digraph changes nothing about the sound; it is a spelling choice only.

Nicknames for Jaymes

High

JayThe front clip
JamieThe traditional diminutive, long in independent use
JimThe standard English short form of James, available by extension
JemA softer English clip with a long history
II

What the data says

The long climb, and where it stands now

BOYS NAMED · 1950–20251447201441519502025

US babies named Jaymes per year from 1950 to 2025
AVERAGE RANK BY DECADE#1#10#100#1000#7541950s2020s

The same years in position rather than babies

First recorded
1950
Most boys named
1986144 — the highest on record
Peak rank
#754reached in 1986
Change vs 2024
−31.8%15 in 2025, from 22
Jaymes sits in the rare tail. Its best year on record was 1986, with 144 boys. Today it is given to few enough children that it does not enter the ranked charts at all.

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.

Jaymes in other languages

The same name elsewhere

  • James in English — spelling variant
  • Jacques in French — related form
  • Jaime in Spanish — related form
  • Giacomo in Italian — related form

Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas.

Jaymess among us

2,300

people named Jaymes are estimated to be alive in the US today

About 1 boy in 113,872 born in 2025 was named Jaymes

Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method

III

Is it right for you

The Clive test

Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Jaymes's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Clive climbed just as high around 1906, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Clive's path sketches the road Jaymes is walking now.

40%chance Jaymes will feel dated by 2040
Jaymes, aligned on its peakClive· peak 1906not yet written
#1#10#100#1000peak-30 yrs+70 yrsClive · #3298Jaymes today
Jaymes today is about where Clive stood in 1945 — 39 years past a #752-sized peak. By 1960, Clive had settled around #2398.
Ages quietlysteadyDates fast

Jaymes 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

Jaymes beside its neighbors

The names ranked closest to Jaymes in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.

Jaymesthis name15#5861Eber15#5861Wilton15#5861Ruby15#5861Stacy15#5861

US boys given each name in 2025.

The trade-off

Practical strengths
  • The sound is one of the most familiar in the English-speaking world.
  • Jay, Jamie and Jim are all available as short forms in different registers.
  • The underlying name has an unusually well-documented history.
What to consider
  • It will be corrected to James by essentially everyone writing it down.
  • The respelling of a name with no pronunciation ambiguity reads as deliberate to some and as an error to others.
  • The ay spelling dates the name to the 1980s and after.

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Jaymes

Masculine · #5861 in the U.S.

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Frequently asked

How many Jaymess are there in the world?
No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,300 people named Jaymes are estimated to be alive in the US today.
How popular is the name Jaymes in 2025?
Jaymes ranks #5861 among US boy names in 2025, with 15 babies given the name.
How rare is the name Jaymes?
About 1 in every 113,872 US boys born in 2025 was named Jaymes — 15 in all.
Will my child share the name Jaymes with classmates?
Jaymes will almost certainly be the only one in school.

Ranked beside Jaymes

Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.

Eber#5861 · Wilton#5861 · Ruby#5861 · Stacy#5861 · Garner#5861 · Caldwell#5861 · Severin#5861 · Newton#5861

Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jaymes? See the current top 100.

Choosing between Jaymes and another name?

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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology

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