The name James for boys in Scotland
National Records of Scotland figures for first names given to babies whose births were registered in Scotland, 1974 to 2025.
This page shows the James (boys) figures from the National Records of Scotland babies' first names table, which covers every year from 1974 to 2025. Each row below is one year in which James was recorded as a first name for boys in Scotland: the number of babies given the name that year and the name's rank among James's first-name rivals that year — that is, the rank the source table itself gives the row, among all first names for boys that year.
The record for James for boys sums every one of those rows. Across the years covered, James appears in 52 of them, from 1974 to 2025, with 35,631 babies in total. Its largest single year was 1974, when the table records 1,202 babies given the name, at rank 5 among all first names for boys that year.
Figures cover every year from 1974 to 2025; years in which the table records no row for James for boys are simply not listed. The publisher suppresses names with a total count of 2 or less in Scotland, so no figure here stands below 3.
Year by year
Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names table, 1974 to 2025. Fetched 2026-11-05.
| Year | Babies given the name | Rank among boys' first names |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 199 | 14 |
| 2024 | 203 | 14 |
| 2023 | 223 | 12 |
| 2022 | 243 | 9 |
| 2021 | 252 | 8 |
| 2020 | 292 | 3 |
| 2019 | 345 | 3 |
| 2018 | 323 | 3 |
| 2017 | 368 | 3 |
| 2016 | 421 | 2 |
| 2015 | 416 | 3 |
| 2014 | 466 | 2 |
| 2013 | 434 | 2 |
| 2012 | 428 | 3 |
| 2011 | 480 | 3 |
| 2010 | 459 | 3 |
| 2009 | 472 | 3 |
| 2008 | 474 | 5 |
| 2007 | 489 | 4 |
| 2006 | 467 | 5 |
| 2005 | 497 | 4 |
| 2004 | 530 | 4 |
| 2003 | 507 | 4 |
| 2002 | 508 | 5 |
| 2001 | 510 | 5 |
| 2000 | 520 | 5 |
| 1999 | 562 | 7 |
| 1998 | 616 | 6 |
| 1997 | 638 | 5 |
| 1996 | 654 | 7 |
| 1995 | 662 | 5 |
| 1994 | 687 | 6 |
| 1993 | 791 | 5 |
| 1992 | 912 | 4 |
| 1991 | 925 | 7 |
| 1990 | 949 | 7 |
| 1989 | 1,012 | 4 |
| 1988 | 1,036 | 5 |
| 1987 | 1,022 | 4 |
| 1986 | 1,100 | 4 |
| 1985 | 1,122 | 5 |
| 1984 | 1,090 | 5 |
| 1983 | 1,156 | 5 |
| 1982 | 1,098 | 5 |
| 1981 | 1,105 | 5 |
| 1980 | 1,194 | 4 |
| 1979 | 1,108 | 5 |
| 1978 | 1,067 | 5 |
| 1977 | 1,068 | 4 |
| 1976 | 1,136 | 4 |
| 1975 | 1,193 | 4 |
| 1974 | 1,202 | 5 |