Trend of the Popularity of James as a Male Baby Name in the US

Updated on May 9, 2026.

Data Source: Social Security Administration (SSA).

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In 2025, there were 11,945 male babies that were named James in the US, which was 0.70% of the total number of male babies born in the US in 2025. Between 1980 and 2025, the name James peaked as a male baby name in the US in 1980 with a count of 39,312 babies, which was 2.20% of the total male babies born in the US in 1980.

The first chart below show the trend of the number of male babies in the US that were named James, and the second chart shows the percent of male babies in the US that were named James.

Trend of the Number of Male Babies who were Named James in the US

Trend of the Percentage of Male Babies who were Named James in the US

The table below below shows the trend of the number of male babies and the percentage of male babies born in the US who were named James from 1980 to 2025.

Trend of the Popularity of James as a Male Baby Name in the US

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Year	Number of Male Babies	Percent of Total Male Babies (%)
1980	39312	2.20
1981	38283	2.14
1982	38874	2.14
1983	36342	2.03
1984	35859	1.99
1985	35862	1.94
1986	34057	1.85
1987	32659	1.75
1988	32523	1.70
1989	32720	1.64
1990	32359	1.58
1991	30514	1.51
1992	28513	1.43
1993	26259	1.34
1994	24778	1.28
1995	22739	1.19
1996	21165	1.12
1997	20408	1.08
1998	19690	1.03
1999	18555	0.97
2000	17991	0.92
2001	17074	0.88
2002	16968	0.87
2003	16896	0.86
2004	16469	0.83
2005	16140	0.81
2006	16255	0.79
2007	15973	0.77
2008	15190	0.75
2009	14223	0.72
2010	13901	0.73
2011	13275	0.70
2012	13458	0.71
2013	13596	0.72
2014	14464	0.75
2015	14865	0.78
2016	14920	0.79
2017	14362	0.78
2018	13650	0.75
2019	13198	0.74
2020	12390	0.72
2021	12474	0.71
2022	12119	0.69
2023	11739	0.69
2024	11856	0.69
2025	11945	0.70