James Family Crest, Coat of Arms & James Name Origin

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Origin of the Name James

The ancient history of the name James was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives. James is a baptismal name meaning 'son of James', a very old personal name. Variants include Jameson, Jamieson, Jamison and Jamson. This name is of Anglo-Norman descent spreading to Ireland , Scotland and Wales in early times and is found in many mediaeval manuscripts in these countries. Examples of such are a Alicia James who was recorded in the 'Poll Tax' of the West Riding of Yorkshire in the year 1379. A Robert Mowlde and Alice James were married in London in the year 1566. A William Jamison and Mary Smith were married in Saint George, Hanover Square, in the year 1769. The purely English Jamison and its variants are mostly confined to North England , and indeed the great majority are of lowland Scottish descent. In Ireland the name James is often an abbreviation of MacJames and Fitzjames formed from early settled Norman families and is found in Counties Carlow and Wicklow.