Jimmy
Masculine · “from James”
Jimmy is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 288,737 boys against 2,218 girls since 1880. See Jimmy as a girl name
Jimmy is a diminutive of a diminutive. James gave Jim, and Jim took a further affectionate ending to give this, which puts two full steps between the child and the name on the certificate — except that for a century and more the certificate has often said Jimmy, which makes the shortening a formality nobody performs.
How old is the name Jimmy?
Jimmy first appears in US birth records in 1883 — 142 years ago. The typical Jimmy alive today was born around 1957, making them about 68 years old. About 192,000 people named Jimmy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jimmy most popular?
Jimmy peaked in 1944, reaching #41 nationally. Today it ranks #846, 805 places below that high. See the whole 1944 chart.
Where it comes from
From James to Jimmy
The story of Jimmy
The vowel in the middle was not always an i. The medieval and early modern short form of James was Jem, with the vowel of gem, and it stayed that way for a long time: Jem appears in registers, in letters and in literature well into the nineteenth century, and it survives in Britain still. Jim is the later form, produced by the ordinary raising of that vowel in a stressed short syllable, and it then took over so completely that Jem now sounds like a regional curiosity rather than the original. The word for a small crowbar, which came from the name, kept the older vowel for a while and then followed it, which is a neat piece of evidence for when the shift finished.
Meaning
from James
The sense runs back through James to a Hebrew name about grasping a heel. Two layers of affectionate shortening lie between, and neither adds anything translatable. What the name carries is familiarity rather than meaning.
How the name formed
- James
- Jem
- Jim
- Jimmy
Related forms: Jaimito · Giacomino
Pronouncing Jimmy
JIM-ee
Two syllables with the stress at the front. Nothing about the spelling is ambiguous and the name is never mispronounced.
Nicknames for Jimmy
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
- 1883
- Most boys named
- 19467,128 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #41reached in 1944
- Change vs 2022
- −10.5%291 in 2025, from 325
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.
Jimmy in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Jaimito in Spanish — related form
- Giacomino in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Jimmys among us
people named Jimmy are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 5,870 born in 2025 was named Jimmy
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 Lee test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Jimmy's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lee climbed just as high around 1900, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lee's path sketches the road Jimmy is walking now.
Jimmy 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 Jimmy is headed
Jimmy should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Jimmy beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jimmy in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is warm and approachable in a way the full name is not.
- Jim sits inside it as a plainer form for adult life.
- It has been in continuous use long enough to be entirely familiar to everyone.
- Its peak generation is far enough back to date the name clearly.
- It reads as a nickname to some ears even when it is the legal name.
- The record holds girls as well, and the girl is much the smaller side.
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What they receive
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Jimmy
Masculine · #846 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Jimmys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 192,000 people named Jimmy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jimmy in 2025?
- Jimmy ranks #846 among US boy names in 2025, with 291 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jimmy?
- About 1 in every 5,870 US boys born in 2025 was named Jimmy — 291 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jimmy with classmates?
- Jimmy will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jimmy
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Cason#846 · Waylen#848 · Braylon#848 · Ben#843 · Conor#843 · Coleson#843 · Ramon#850 · Derrick#850
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jimmy? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jimmy and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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