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THE
SURNAME OF JAMES
The James surname has its origins in the Bible. James has
its ancient root in the Old Testament name of Jacob, although today
James is seen as a separate and distinct name in its own right. The
personal name of James appears in the New Testament in the form of two
of Christ’s disciples – James the brother of John and James the
brother of Andrew. As time passed, this personal name was taken up as a
surname although today it is still a very popular and enduring personal
name. In many name origination texts
the surname of James is given as being English in origin but that is
misleading. Although James appears all over the British Isles, its main
concentration is in South Wales. Welsh people would claim the James
surname as their own, and they would appear to have a strong historical
case for that claim. James is a surname firmly rooted in the Celtic
fringe of these islands. With the ascent of the British
Empire the James surname burst forth from the shores of Great Britain
and can now be found all over the globe. It will be encountered in all
the Old Commonwealth nations and the former colonial possessions. From
the valleys of South Wales, the James name has truly gone international. In 1837, 418 James children were
born in England and Wales. In 2005 there were 1,943. In 1881 there were
11,846 James households in the British Isles and for that year the top
occupations for those with the James surname were – Scholar, Coal
Miner, Dressmaker, Agricultural Labourer and General Labourer. As can be
imagined, all these occupations were well represented in South Wales at
the time. Between 1838 and 1910 the top ten
counties for James births were – Glamorgan, London, Breconshire,
Monmouthshire, Staffordshire, Cardiganshire, Pembrokeshire,
Gloucestershire, Cornwall and Lancashire. It can be clearly seen from the
above that these births were predominantly in Wales with a fair
representation in Cornwall, another Celtic domain. The English counties
mentioned were ones to which migrant labour would have gravitated and
taken their names with them, or they directly bordered South Wales. Between 1984 and 2005 the top ten
counties for James births were - Glamorgan, London, Lancashire,
Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Hampshire, Kent
and Surrey. It can be easily deduced from the
above, that the James surname has settled and become established in
areas far from its historical heartland. The name itself can provide a
reliable route map of migration, both within the British Isles and
beyond. Let us look at this internal
migration within the British Isles during the Victorian era. The
surname of James was most popular in the following counties over a
period of seven decades:
The James surname left British
shores in some very interesting ways. It arrived in Australia via
colonial settlers. Amongst these were many convicts transported to
Australia for often very trivial offences. In all there were 26 James
convicts sent to Australia between the years 1788 and 1842. Today the
James surname is most popular by far in the states of New South Wales
and Victoria. Many other migrants left the
British Isles for a new life in Canada and the USA. Many of these
crossings were hazardous in the extreme, due to the weather and the poor
state of many of the ships taking them to the new world. By 1891 the
most populated province by those with the James surname was Ontario and
that still remains true to this day. In the USA by 1920, the most
populated state by those with the James surname was Pennsylvania,
followed by New York, Ohio, Illinois, California, Michigan, New Jersey,
Massachusetts and Iowa. To close this fact sheet on the
James surname there is one more statistic to relay. The average male
James can expect to live for 77 years, whilst a female James will last
until her 81st year. Interestingly in Scotland the figures
are 74 years for a male and 79 years for a female, it must be something
to do with the weather. ©Copyright - James of Glencarr |
