James History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name James was brought to England in the great wave of migration following the Norman Conquest of 1066. It comes from the personal name Jacob, the Latin Jacobus via the Late Latin Jacomus. The Latin Jacobus is derived from the Hebrew name Yaakov which is traditionally interpreted as coming from the Hebrew akev, which means heel. 1

“The first appearance of this Christian name in our annals is in the Domesday [Book].” 2

James the Cistercian (fl. 1270), also called James the Englishman, “was the first professor of philosophy and theology in the college which Stephen Lexington, Abbot of Clairvaux, founded in the house of the counts of Champagne at Paris for the instruction of young Cistercians. ” 3

Early Origins of the James family

The surname James was first found in Surrey. At an early time the name migrated from Normandy under the name FitzJames, as one of the noble house of Normandy. In nearby Utrecht the name became Van Haestrecht, whence it became FitzJames again, having migrated from Utrecht into England, into the manor of Ightham, at the time of King John, about the year 1210 A.D. They acquired the manors and estates of Hamon de Cravignuier, from De Inge, Zouch of Harringworth, Read, and Willoughby, and thence to the noble house of James.

“In early documents the name is usually Jacobus, but James is occasionally found in the 12th and 13th centuries, sometimes alternating with Jack or its diminutives Jackamin, Jackett and Jacklin.” 4

“The principal home of this name is in South Wales and Monmouthshire. Lower tells us of a very ancient Pembroke family possessing an estate successively held by thirteen persons bearing the name of William James. 2 The name is also frequent in Shropshire and Herefordshire on the Welsh border, and in the neighbouring counties of Gloucester and Stafford. It is also numerous in the south – west of England, especially in Somerset, Dorset, and Cornwall. In the eastern counties it nearly disappears, but it reappears in the north, though in no great numbers. ” 5