A nickname for James

[hulahoopqueen]

I absolutely love the name James.
DH has a young and pretty distant cousin with the same name, (we don't see them often, so not too fussed about trouble with "stealing" the name), and the whole family uses the nickname Jimmy.
I don't know anyone called James, so Jimmy as a nickname threw me a bit. It turns out I can't get on with it as a nickname at all, to the point I'd avoid using the name.
I'm not against nicknames, I actually love Jamie as a casual version of James.
Anyone who knows a James, is that a common nickname? And if we used Jamie as an alternative to Jimmy, would that catch on?

Stef92

You won't have your way though. You can insist on calling your son James while he is young, but you won;t have that control forever- he may end up Jabs/Jabbers/Jammie/Jabbo/Jim/Jimmy/.

@Asterales

We have a James who is insistent upon being called by his proper name of James out of the house and at school, but in his softer moments will allow me and his dad to push it as far as Jimbo, Jamesie Bon-Bon and even on occasion Jimbelina. Never Jamie or Jay, he'll have none of that.

Jimbelina 😍😍😍

I love the name James and Jamie but loathe Jimmy. I know two James who go by no other names (and one horse called Jimmy!)

I like the medieval nn Jem for James best (although thanks to To Kill a Mockingbird, more people use it for Jeremy instead).

But Jamie or Jay for James is nice too (not keen on Jim/Jimmy- too dated) although I must admit all the James I know seem to be called the full version, at least by their friends (don't know about family nn's).

@speakout never heard of some of those and Jabbers just reminds me of Jabber the hut...

I know a teenage James known as Jay

Stef92 I thought it was Jabba the Hut.

My partner is a James and everyone has called him Jay since he was little. He’s only James when his mum’s angry with him 😂

I have a cousin James who is named for his dad James, but goes by Hamish. (Scottish Highlands)

I have a 2 year old James who we have always called Jim or Jimmers- but we introduce him as that. I don't think anyone would have made the leap from James to Jim without our direction!

Two of my ex’s were called James, but both went by Jay once they got into their late teens/twenties.

@Scarby9

If you absolutely love James, why would you call him something else?

I know some people will do so whether or not we like it, so I'd like to at least have one nickname in the bank to encourage people towards

Jimmy is a fine nick name or Jim.

My Granda was a Jem - it suited him, and was always top of my boys' list.

I have a James who is known as Jimmy. He's named after my grandfather who was always known as Jim.

Jamie is the most common nickname I know but I don't like it much.

@Hellocatshome

If you want Jamie call him Jamie, its not really a nickname for James.

Jamie absolutely is a nickname for James, really quite a common one.

Could also be Jim or Jay, I don’t know anyone who’s known as Jimmy but I’d think of it as an older nickname

I’m married to a James and all his friends from school call him Jim. Only his family and me call him James. Also a lot of his friends call him by his initials, so JP. I agree with starting off with the nickname early so everyone knows that’s the preferred term.

My OH is James and he is known as James. Or by a surname based nickname to his friends. My MIL would absolutely hit the roof if anyone referred to him as Jim

I love the name James. So classic but without being pretentious or over trendy. Can't go wrong

My James is known as Jim or occasionally JimJam.

I love James, but hate Jamie. So twee and Morningside

'James James Morrison Morrison Wetherby George Dupree
Took great care of his mother, though he was only three'.
This thread has brought back this A A Milne poem so thank you!

We have lots of Jameses in my family (Scottish). They are called, variously

Jim
Jimmy
Jamesie
Hamish
Jamie

My James friend is Jamie to his family and Jim/Jimbo at work.

Jimmy. No. Just no. Forever will make me think of Savile 🤮

I know 3 James. One was called Jim or Jimbo or Jimmy when he was younger but now gets called Jamie. One was and is called Jamesy and one I used to call Jamie but is now a a James. So one James size does not fit all!