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Jamey

#4,312 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Variant of Jamie; deeper meaning unconfirmed

Jamey has been given to 9,808 babies in the U.S. since 1944. In 2025 it ranked #4,312 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1976, with 430 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 69% boys, 31% girls all-time.

Babies named Jamey, 2025

1 in 138,000

Jamey over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
020040060018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Jamey over time

In 2025, Jamey went to 23% girls and 77% boys.

19442025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Jamey: meaning, origin, and history

Variant of Jamie; deeper meaning unconfirmed

English, from a Scottish short form of James

About Jamey

Jamey is an English spelling of Jamie, the familiar Scottish form of James. Pronounced JAY-mee, it has two syllables and is used for both boys and girls. Country songwriter Jamey Johnson and jazz educator Jamey Aebersold give this spelling two quite different musical associations, one centered on songs and performance and the other on learning to improvise.

Origin and related names

Jamie began as a Lowland Scots diminutive of James. Its ending turns the single-syllable James into a longer familiar form. Jamey preserves the same sound with a different arrangement of the final letters.

James and Jacob descend from the same Hebrew name, Yaʿaqov, through different Latin forms. James developed through Iacomus, a later form of Iacobus. The biblical story connects Jacob with his brother's heel and with supplanting him, while another proposed explanation of the ancient name is “may God protect.” Its ultimate meaning remains uncertain.

Jami, Jaimie, and Jayme belong to the same group of English familiar forms. Jamie has been used for girls since the late nineteenth century, and Jamey likewise appears for both sexes in American records. Its sound remains close to the Scottish nickname even when used as a complete first name.

Jamey Johnson

Jamey Johnson's country music career includes the 2008 album That Lonesome Song and the 2010 double album The Guitar Song. The former received a platinum certification in the United States, while the latter was certified gold.

Johnson is also known as a songwriter. His co-written songs “Give It Away” and “In Color” each received Song of the Year honors from both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association. The recognition links his name with writing as well as recording.

The album titles and songwriting awards made the spelling Jamey visible in country music credits during a period well after its American birth-count peak. They provide a modern cultural connection for a name whose roots are much older.

Jamey Aebersold

Jamey Aebersold developed a different musical legacy through jazz education. In 1967 he produced his first Play-A-Long recording and book, allowing students to practice improvisation with a recorded professional accompaniment.

The recordings typically provide a rhythm section without a solo instrument, leaving room for the learner to supply the melody and improvised lines. This made it possible to rehearse with professional musicians outside a classroom or live ensemble.

Aebersold earned a master's degree in saxophone from Indiana University in 1962. In 2014, he received the A. B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy. His name became familiar on instructional recordings and books used by successive generations of jazz players.

American usage

Jamey's largest published annual counts for both sexes in the United States came in 1976: 430 boys, ranked #369, and 146 girls, ranked #904. In 2025, the exact spelling was recorded for 24 boys and seven girls. Its American use has therefore become much less frequent than at its 1970s high.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Name information is adapted from the linked Wiktionary and Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0, as applicable. Historical details draw on the additional references below. Popularity figures use published SSA records for this exact spelling; name-sex-year counts below five are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How popular is Jamey?

In 2025, Jamey ranked #4,312 among boys in the United States, with 24 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for boys in 1944; its largest annual count was 430 in 1976. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.

How common is Jamey?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 138,000
24 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 71,200
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#4,312
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
95,747 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Jamey sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 95,747 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Jamey. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Jameys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Jamey was born before 1976 — so the typical Jamey is around 49 today.

Median birth year
1976
About 49 years old
Biggest decade
1970s
50.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
8.0%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
6,737
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1970s — 50.7% of all recorded uses (3,422).

Is Jamey rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+642
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+15
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+32
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.04×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
5.6%
Peak was 1976 (430)
Years since peak
49
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
26.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#369
1976

Spellings of Jamey

Jamey is not the most common spelling — James is, with 75.8% against Jamey's 0.10%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Jamey is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Jamey was most concentrated in Alabama — about 1 in 14,286 boys, against 1 in 39,701 across all states with data. It was least common in New Jersey (1 in —).

07 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Alabama1 in 14,286
  2. 2Georgia1 in 16,667
  3. 3Iowa1 in 16,667
  4. 4Kentucky1 in 20,000
  5. 5Tennessee1 in 20,000
  6. 6Indiana1 in 25,000
  7. 7Minnesota1 in 25,000
  8. 8North Carolina1 in 25,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Jamey has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Jamey is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Jamey was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 163,973 across all states with data. It was least common in Washington (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 100,000
  2. 2Florida1 in 100,000
  3. 3Indiana1 in 100,000
  4. 4Michigan1 in 100,000
  5. 5Missouri1 in 100,000
  6. 6Montana1 in 100,000
  7. 7Ohio1 in 100,000
  8. 8Oklahoma1 in 100,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Jamey has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Jamey around the world

Where Jamey ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2010
    #4,678
    in 2010
  • Ireland
    1993–1993
    #302
    in 1993
  • Canada
    1991–2017
    #2,944
    in 2017
  • South Australia
    1970–2005
    #643
    in 2005

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Central Statistics Office, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Jamey

People whose public names include Jamey, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Jamey in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Jamey. Linked forms have their own page here.

Jamie

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Jamey by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#4,312
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 15
Best rank ever
#369
1976
Peak year
1976
430 that year
First recorded
1944
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
6,755
Count in 2025
24

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#12,444
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 253
Best rank ever
#904
1976
Peak year
1976
146 that year
First recorded
1944
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
3,053
Count in 2025
7

Names similar to Jamey

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

JamilJamirJamelJaminJamarJamonJamaalJameelJamariJamalJamellJamereJameerJamallJamarrJamezJamarionJamierJamarcusJamieJamisonJameJamielJameir

Names with a curve like Jamey

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Jamey, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

ShadDarrickShonJammieChadwickTorreyDemondKenyattaKenyaTorranceShannonScottie

Sibling names for Jamey

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Jamey

Top names of 1976, Jamey's peak yearThe 1970s in fullOther names that peaked in 1976Boys' names starting with JJames & Jacob Variations & Nicknames