Jim
Masculine · “supplanter”
Jim is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 153,122 boys against 816 girls since 1880. See Jim as a girl name
Jim is what English does to James when it is in a hurry, and it has been doing it for a very long time. It has been an ordinary American name since before the records begin, and two Jims in particular have kept it in the national conversation: one invented in a novel, one an athlete whose name a whole town took.
How old is the name Jim?
Jim was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Jim alive today was born around 1948, making them about 77 years old. About 79,500 people named Jim are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jim most popular?
Jim peaked in 1882, reaching #45 nationally. Today it ranks #3128, 3,083 places below that high. See the whole 1882 chart.
Where it comes from
From Jacob to Jim
The story of Jim
The most consequential Jim in American writing is the man Huck Finn runs away with: a person the book's narrator has been raised to regard as property and slowly, painfully, comes to see otherwise. He is the moral center of the novel and the reason it keeps being argued about, banned, defended and taught. The other Jim worth knowing is Jim Thorpe, the Sac and Fox athlete who won both the pentathlon and the decathlon at one Olympics and had the medals taken away over a technicality that was later reversed. After he died, two small Pennsylvania towns that had never met him merged, renamed themselves Jim Thorpe, and built his tomb, in the hope that a famous grave would bring visitors. It worked, more or less, and the town still carries his name.
Meaning
supplanter, by way of James and Jacob
James descends from Jacob through Latin and French, and the Hebrew name behind it has long been read as one who takes the heel or supplants. The reading belongs to the full name; Jim simply inherits it.
How the name formed
- Jacob
- Iacomus
- James
- Jim
Pronouncing Jim
JIM
One syllable and there is nothing to get wrong.
Nicknames for Jim
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 19605,549 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #45reached in 1882
- Change vs 2022
- +11.8%38 in 2025, from 34
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.
Jim in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Ohio.
Jims among us
people named Jim are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 44,949 born in 2025 was named Jim
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Jim 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
Where Jim is headed
Jim is easing off slowly — about 21% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Jim beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jim in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Three letters, one syllable, and understood instantly everywhere English is spoken.
- It is a complete name and a short form at once, so a child can be Jim on the register and James on a degree if he ever wants to be.
- It has an unbroken American record stretching back to the start of the statistics, which very few short forms can say.
- The name is attached to the body of American segregation laws through a minstrel character, and that association is permanent and worth naming rather than stepping around.
- It reads as belonging to an older generation in America, which is either the appeal or the obstacle.
- This spelling is recorded for girls as well as boys, though very rarely, so the occasional form will guess wrong.
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What they receive
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Jim
Masculine · #3128 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Jims are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 79,500 people named Jim are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jim in 2025?
- Jim ranks #3128 among US boy names in 2025, with 38 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jim?
- About 1 in every 44,949 US boys born in 2025 was named Jim — 38 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jim with classmates?
- Jim will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jim
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hamilton#3128 · Juanpablo#3128 · Courtney#3128 · Baxter#3128 · Javen#3128 · Hal#3128 · Dawud#3128 · Tavion#3128
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jim? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jim and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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