Active discussions

Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

What springs to mind when you hear the name James?

57 replies

sophiedeana990 · 04/07/2015 20:38

My inner milk curdles when I have the name James, it reminds me of a self-conscious skater boy with a Bieber/surfing hair cut that annoyingly covers his eyes, or a selfish pig of a 'bachelor' who spends his nicer than comfy salary on his drink issues to compensate the pain for his pathetic inner weakness.

No offence to anyone of course, it's just what springs to mind when I hear the name James. Problem because I read too many books, come to think of it lol

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
CardinalRed · 05/07/2015 22:48

A male.
Possibly Scottish - we had six King James, so very popular
lots of abbreviations - Jim, JImmy, Jem, Jamie.
Classic name

BeverlyGoldberg · 05/07/2015 19:48

oh sit down

sidonie1 · 05/07/2015 13:41

My brother and my husband's brother are Jameses. Love the name. I think it's solid, masculine and gentle all in one (and that's not based on the James I know, but rather, how I think of the name).

SirChenjin · 05/07/2015 13:06

Exactly Shadow. If she was planning to call him Lucifer-K/din then I could understand your cringing, but James?? It's a very old, very popular, very normal name.

ShadowFire · 05/07/2015 12:55

P.S. I think James is a great name. I've met far more lovely James's than nasty James's.

ShadowFire · 05/07/2015 12:53

So what, you could tell your cousin that "everyone else" hates the name James too, and not just you?

Seriously, when you get to know her James, that baby will probably start to override the negative associations you've got from other James's you've known.

And what she plans to name her child is really none of your business. Particularly when it's a normal, mainstream name she's considering.

SirChenjin · 05/07/2015 12:51

like it.

SirChenjin · 05/07/2015 12:51

So some like, some don't - surprise! Hopefully you're keeping your cringing to yourself. Lol.

Original poster
sophiedeana990 · 05/07/2015 12:44

I think the purpose of the thread was to gain people's opinions of the name based on people they know. My cousin wishes to call her little boy James and it just made me cringe.

OP posts:
SirChenjin · 05/07/2015 12:36

You still haven't explained the purpose of this thread sophie. You don't like the name James - so?

Original poster
sophiedeana990 · 05/07/2015 12:33

Well said there lljkk

OP posts:
lljkk · 05/07/2015 11:55

Compared to what MNers have said (in mass chorus screeching unison) about my name, what OP said about James is a positively glowing rave review.

I like the name James a lot. IRL I have known some I liked & some I didn't, but I still like the name.

James Brown the singer was my first thought.

SirChenjin · 05/07/2015 11:54

So - what's the point of this thread?

Original poster
sophiedeana990 · 05/07/2015 11:50

Clueing4looks you hit the nail on the head ;)

OP posts:
Clueing4looks · 05/07/2015 11:41

James is a little boy from my nursery class who always had a line of thick green snot touching his top lip.

James is the bully from secondary school who got a taste of his own medicine when the quiet girl punched him in the face out of frustration.

SirChenjin · 05/07/2015 11:40

What's the point of your OP sophie?

FunnyCatVideo · 05/07/2015 11:31

My brother! Or how Rachel from Friends wanted to name a girl James...

reuset · 05/07/2015 11:17

I don't know why I thought it was only top fifty ( my own anecdata of not having met many young children called James lately). Top 10 consistently for a long time.

Grin at the OP personal associations.

reuset · 05/07/2015 11:13

You can't make assumptions about a James or his social class and background, on paper anyway. It's one of those good solid classless, classic names. Though I think I associate it most with wholesome salt of the earth types. Grin Great name.

Original poster
sophiedeana990 · 05/07/2015 11:02

Hehe, rage in the comments about the name Sophie if you wish. I dislike it, and it was a very middle class name at the time I was born, not that that's bad of course!

OP posts:
elephantoverthehill · 04/07/2015 23:45

It is Seamus in Ireland

ShadowFire · 04/07/2015 23:38

I have met far too many James's, ranging in age from a few months old to over 80 years old, to have any particular associations with the name. And that's before even starting to think about fictional James's.

I'm pretty sure it's more popular in Scotland than in England, so I wouldn't assume any particular nationality either.

elephantoverthehill · 04/07/2015 23:21

*revolting

elephantoverthehill · 04/07/2015 23:14

I did make the mistake of icing him a James, the red engine, cake for his 3rd birthday. Just the face of James on a round sponge. So much grey and black icing. It looked revoting.

ICantDecideOnAUsername · 04/07/2015 23:11

Great choice for a name.

But then it's a family name in my, er, family. Lots of Jameses!