Jaime
A surname that usually goes back to the medieval form of James, ultimately from Hebrew Jacob.
The #2,665 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 22,816 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally explained as an Anglo-Norman or Old French form of James. The deeper root is Latin Jacobus, from Hebrew Yaʿaqov, the same name behind Jacob and James. In medieval usage, Jaime could be a personal name first and later become hereditary as a surname.
History
A 19th-century surname dictionary explicitly defines Jaime as an Anglo-Norman form of James. The name also appears in older French and Iberian contexts as a variant of James/Jacob, which helps explain its spread across different languages and regions. In English records it is uncommon, but it persists as a surname and as a given name in Spanish- and French-influenced areas.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One historical source notes Jaime among medieval Anglo-Norman name forms alongside Jago, Jake, and Jajo.
From the historical record
“JAGO, JAGOE. See JACA. JAIME. An Anglo-Norman form of James. JAJO. A Cornish form of James. JAK, JAKE, JAKY. Anglo-Norman forms of James. JAKEH. Said to be a Cornish form of John, but perhaps rather of its nickname Jack, or still more likely from James. JAMES. A name corrupted from Jacobus, by change of b to m.…”
— Praenomina; or, the etymology of the principal Christian names of Great Britain and Ireland