How to say it
JAME · son
/ˈdʒeɪm.sən/
Masculine
Jameson
Son of James
What it means
English surname meaning 'son of James,' James itself from the Hebrew Yaakov ('supplanter') via Latin Iacomus. The Irish whiskey brand Jameson is the strongest English-language anchor.
Jameson is an English (and Scots-Irish) surname meaning 'son of James,' with James from the Hebrew Yaakov through Latin Iacomus. The Jameson Irish Whiskey brand (founded 1780 in Dublin by John Jameson) is the strongest English-language cultural anchor and gives the name particular weight in Irish-American families. As a first name Jameson is recent: rare before 2000, then surging with the broader masculine surname-first wave. It entered the US top 200 in 2015. Jamie is the standard short, also a separate given name.
Popularity over time
peaked at #77 in 2019, currently #137 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Nickname
Jamie is the standard short. The Jameson whiskey brand is a small cultural anchor; some families lean into the Irish-American coding, others use the name without thinking about it.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- Jameson Irish Whiskey Distillery founded in Dublin in 1780 by John Jameson
Spelling variants
- Jamison
- Jameyson
Names with the same feeling
See Jameson from another angle
By style