By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal
footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.
Where James is most popular
Boys named James per 1,000 boys born in
each state, 2021–2025. National average: 6.96 per 1,000.
Strongest in District of Columbia, Wyoming, and Alaska.
Vs national average well below below near national above well above no data
All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are boys named James born
2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes
comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.
| State | Boys 2021–2025 | Per 1,000 | vs national |
| District of Columbia | 258 | 17.5 | +151% |
| Wyoming | 101 | 17.5 | +151% |
| Alaska | 171 | 14.4 | +106% |
| Mississippi | 810 | 14.3 | +105% |
| New Hampshire | 301 | 13.6 | +95% |
| Montana | 230 | 13.0 | +87% |
| Alabama | 1,420 | 13.0 | +87% |
| Vermont | 80 | 12.7 | +83% |
| South Carolina | 1,266 | 12.3 | +76% |
| Massachusetts | 1,659 | 12.1 | +73% |
| Delaware | 182 | 12.0 | +72% |
| Connecticut | 803 | 11.9 | +70% |
| Rhode Island | 191 | 11.7 | +68% |
| Maine | 209 | 10.8 | +55% |
| Virginia | 2,040 | 10.8 | +54% |
| Tennessee | 1,912 | 10.6 | +52% |
| Idaho | 419 | 10.2 | +47% |
| North Dakota | 172 | 10.1 | +45% |
| Utah | 958 | 10.0 | +44% |
| Kentucky | 998 | 9.94 | +43% |
| Kansas | 660 | 9.62 | +38% |
| Arkansas | 598 | 9.45 | +36% |
| Maryland | 1,124 | 9.43 | +35% |
| North Carolina | 2,385 | 9.34 | +34% |
| West Virginia | 296 | 9.07 | +30% |
| Georgia | 2,295 | 9.06 | +30% |
| Minnesota | 1,108 | 9.03 | +30% |
| Louisiana | 923 | 9.02 | +30% |
| South Dakota | 165 | 8.87 | +27% |
| Missouri | 1,229 | 8.87 | +27% |
| New Jersey | 1,746 | 8.67 | +25% |
| Hawaii | 134 | 8.63 | +24% |
| Colorado | 1,105 | 8.56 | +23% |
| Nebraska | 368 | 8.46 | +22% |
| Pennsylvania | 2,236 | 8.42 | +21% |
| Oregon | 621 | 8.18 | +18% |
| Wisconsin | 940 | 7.93 | +14% |
| Washington | 1,292 | 7.90 | +13% |
| Iowa | 538 | 7.80 | +12% |
| Oklahoma | 687 | 7.77 | +12% |
| New York | 3,341 | 7.72 | +11% |
| Illinois | 1,971 | 7.71 | +11% |
| Ohio | 2,041 | 7.70 | +11% |
| Indiana | 1,230 | 7.67 | +10% |
| Michigan | 1,555 | 7.59 | +9% |
| Nevada | 413 | 7.24 | ≈ national |
| New Mexico | 238 | 7.22 | ≈ national |
| Florida | 3,171 | 6.70 | ≈ national |
| Arizona | 1,043 | 6.37 | -8% |
| Texas | 5,195 | 5.90 | -15% |
| California | 5,305 | 5.80 | -17% |
State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any
state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.
The story of James
James is a top-10 name for boys in the United States, ranked #6 in 2025 with 11,945 babies given the name. It is currently holding steady compared with a decade ago.
Since 1880, 5,274,520 American babies have been named James. Its peak came in 1947, when 95,024 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1940s.
The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where James stood among all boys' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.
