Semaj
Masculine · “James spelled backwards”
Semaj is given to both — 7,421 boys and 2,038 girls since 1880. See Semaj as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Semaj is James turned around, letter for letter — one of the clearest examples of a naming habit that has produced real American names, the way Nevaeh reverses Heaven. Read forward it hides one of the longest name lines in Europe; read backward it becomes something no one else in the room will be carrying. Two syllables, six letters, and a story a child can explain in one sentence.
How old is the name Semaj?
Semaj first appears in US birth records in 1971 — 54 years ago. The typical Semaj alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 7,300 people named Semaj are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Semaj most popular?
Semaj peaked in 2011, reaching #627 nationally. Today it ranks #1026, 399 places below that high. See the whole 2011 chart.
Semaj appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Yaʿaqov to Semaj
The story of Semaj
Semaj is an American coinage, made by reversing James — a name that reached English through Hebrew Yaʿaqov, Greek Iakobos and the Late Latin Iacomus before French and Middle English wore it down to its modern shape. Reversal names have a real place in twentieth-century American naming, especially in African American communities, where they gave families a way to honor a familiar name while making something unmistakably new; Nevaeh, from Heaven, is the best-known example on the girls' side. Semaj belongs to that pattern and has stayed in quiet, continuous use across several generations of American boys, concentrated in the South.
Meaning
James spelled backwards
Semaj has no meaning of its own in any source language — it is a reversal of James, and that reversal is plain to anyone who sees it written. James itself comes down from Hebrew Yaʿaqov (Jacob), whose meaning is genuinely disputed: one reading takes it from the word for heel, hence 'supplanter', another from a root meaning 'may God protect'.
How the name formed
- Yaʿaqov
- Iakobos
- Iacomus
- James
- Semaj
Related forms: James · Yaʿaqov · Jaime · Jacques · Giacomo · Séamus
Pronouncing Semaj
suh-MAHZH
Pronunciation is not settled. Families use suh-MAHZH with the soft j of garage, suh-MAJ with an English j, and SEE-maj with the stress up front. Whichever you choose, expect to say it before people guess.
Nicknames for Semaj
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
- 1971
- Most boys named
- 2011374 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #627reached in 2011
- Change vs 2024
- +5.9%217 in 2025, from 205
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.
Semaj in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- James in English — related form
- Yaʿaqov in Hebrew — related form
- Jaime in Spanish — related form
- Jacques in French — related form
- Giacomo in Italian — related form
- Séamus in Irish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Florida, Texas, Georgia.
Semajs among us
people named Semaj are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 7,871 born in 2025 was named Semaj
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 Wes test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Semaj's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Wes climbed just as high around 1963, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Wes's path sketches the road Semaj is walking now.
Semaj 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 Semaj is headed
Semaj should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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.
Semaj beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Semaj in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Carries the whole Jacob-to-James line inside it while looking like nothing else on a class list.
- Short and phonetically simple — six letters, no silent ones, straightforward for a child to write early.
- In American use across several generations, so it is not a name invented for a single season.
- The origin explains itself the moment it is written down, which makes introductions easy.
- There is no agreed pronunciation. You will be setting it yourself, and correcting people for years — worth deciding on one version before the birth announcement goes out.
- Almost everyone who notices the reversal will say so out loud. Some bearers enjoy that; others tire of hearing the same observation.
- Outside the United States the name is unlikely to be recognized at all, and spelling it aloud will become routine, since ears expect the letters of James in their usual order.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Semaj to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Semaj
Masculine · #1026 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Semajs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 7,300 people named Semaj are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Semaj in 2025?
- Semaj ranks #1026 among US boy names in 2025, with 217 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Semaj?
- About 1 in every 7,871 US boys born in 2025 was named Semaj — 217 in all.
- Will my child share the name Semaj with classmates?
- Semaj will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Semaj
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Gatlin#1026 · Kaius#1028 · Devon#1028 · Yaakov#1024 · Kooper#1024 · Ivaan#1030 · Kellan#1030 · Shai#1030
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Semaj? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Semaj 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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