My name is James. Cat's out of the bag. The thing is, I'm not a Jimmy, I'm an American. It's true that my parents named me after James, having visited St. Jacob's Island on vacation in the '80's (and loving it!). Thing is, sometimes when people find out my name is James they ask me if I'm a Jimmy or a Jim.
To native Jimmies, do you think it's racist to assume that anyone named James is a Jimmy? Is it acceptable to call Jimmies "Jims?"
P.S. I've visited James and it's gorgeous! The central spire is an engineering marvel.
I’m delighted to hear that you and your parents had a wonderful time here in James.
It’s perfectly fine to call us Jamesians, Jimmies, or even Jims. Much like an Australian can be called an Aussie or a New Zealander a Kiwi.
As for wether it’s racist to assume anyone named James is from James, I think it’s always fine to ask where someone called James is from. But it’s best to ask first and not make assumptions as the name has spread far outside James these days.
I believe there was another post about James demonyms
But interesting story you have there
With "St. Jacobs Island", do you mean Jacob's island southeast of the mainland? The Jacob's island southeast of the mainland has no St. in it.
You sure? This was in with my parents' souvenirs, but the location sounds right.
https://preview.redd.it/n33cpzh77t7g1.png?width=969&format=png&auto=webp&s=7d9561e1f903c51a031c01d1e739d477217b86a1
I looked it up. It was an error when making postcards in the 80's. 250 postcards where printed with the text "St. Jacob's island" instead of "Jakob's island". It was on the time when Jakob's island still was one of the most popular things to visit in James. At that time, there was as high as 2000 permanent residents on the small island. Today, we are only 33.
The remaining postcards are today worth very much. Five years ago, one of the postcards was sold for about $1,000,000.
Now I'm getting really confused. I just found a map that says "Jakob's Island" where St. Jacob's Island is. Is this one of those things where the name has changed over the years?
Actually, the name has always been "Jakob's Island", it never changed. But map makers sometimes can be terribly superficial.
IIRC everyone with the name James can become a citizen of James. So you can become a real jamesian if you want because of your name. Just send a letter to the James governement to apply for citizenship.