So long story short(ish), when my first son was born my [name_f]MIL[/name_f] came into the room telling us about my husbands Irish great great great grandfather, Jamus [name_m]Black[/name_m]. We were instantly like wow, what a cool name. So we decided if we had another boy that would be his name.
Fast forward two years later, we are due to have another boy in [name_f]May[/name_f]. When we went to look deeper into the name Jamus (for spelling and such) we found that his ancestor’s name was actually just [name_u]James[/name_u]. Not Jamus. I was pretty upset because Jamus is not really an established name but I didn’t care because it was a family name. Well, now We learn it’s not a family name.
Anyway, we decided we still want to use it because that’s been the name for 2 years.
My question for you would be how would you pronounce it with this spelling? Does it look really weird? My husband doesn’t like any i’s in it and really prefers this spelling.
His name will be (hopefully) Jamus [name_m]Russell[/name_m] W.
Brother is [name_m]Killian[/name_m] [name_m]Henry[/name_m]
I would pronounce it similar to [name_m]Seamus[/name_m] and [name_u]Jameson[/name_u]. [name_u]Jay[/name_u]-mus. If this is the correct pronunciation, then I’d say it’s really intuitive and not at all weird. As you said, it doesn’t appear to be a very well established name, but it does pop up in google searches, so I definitely wouldn’t lump it in with modern day “made up” names.
Jamus [name_m]Russell[/name_m] is really handsome and I completely adore it! It has an extra pop and appeal to it when compared to the simple and classic [name_u]James[/name_u].
I do wonder though, is it at all possible your husband’s relative pronounced it as Jamus but it was spelled as [name_u]James[/name_u]? That could be why it appears as [name_u]James[/name_u] but your [name_f]MIL[/name_f] said it as Jamus! But I would definitely go with the Jamus spelling if [name_u]Jay[/name_u]-mus is the pronunciation you want!
Honestly I assumed it was a typo of [name_u]James[/name_u], which is why I wouldn’t use it, but I’d pronounce it as jay-mus if I knew it was how the name was actually spelled. It just seems like too much of a bother, he’d have to clarify that he isn’t called [name_u]James[/name_u] every time he introduced himself. It’d be fine as a middle name, but these are my thoughts on Jamus as a first name.
Yes this is the correct pronunciation! I’m glad to hear you think it’s intuitive to pronounce it this way. I think because we are in a very highly Irish populated area, thats how people would think to pronounce it. I know Spanish speakers and some others could have trouble but I am hopeful that the majority would get it right. Thanks for your response, it makes me feel better!
Would spelling it Jaymus be any better? I just feel like, while adding the y does make the pronunciation more clear, it also looks more juvenile and made up. Jaimus?
Idk. I don’t want him to have a hard time with his name but we are still really stuck on it after 2 years of thinking that will be our next boy’s name. We both agreed that if something better came along we wouldn’t mind changing the name. But nothing else is feeling right. I wish there was a perfect spelling for Jamus cause I love the way it sounds, especially as a brother to [name_m]Killian[/name_m].
[name_u]James[/name_u] is much too common around here and I just don’t like it all that much for us.
Frankly, if Jamus is a familiar name where you live, then I’d say go for it. I’m looking at this name from the perspective of someone who has never encountered it before so my judgement is probably not very relevant to you.
For what it’s worth, I don’t think Jaymus or Jaimus are better.
I agree, Jamus seems like it could be a typo. I personally prefer [name_m]Seamus[/name_m], [name_m]Amos[/name_m], or [name_m]Hamish[/name_m], which sound similar but are more widely recognized.
I much prefer [name_m]Seamus[/name_m] (pronounced [name_u]SHAY[/name_u]-mus) with [name_m]Killian[/name_m]. I think they would be a great sibling set. [name_u]Love[/name_u] it with the middle name too.
My husband, unfortunately makes naming impossible. He doesn’t like the way [name_m]Seamus[/name_m] sounds. I guess he doesn’t like the shay sound. He also heavily associates nearly every name with someone else. As much as I love being surrounded by a bunch of Irish people, every name I like seems to be someone’s first or last name that he went to highschool with.
Most of the people we have told about Jamus have responded realllly well to it. Because it just sounds like a shortened [name_u]Jameson[/name_u] (which my husband doesn’t like because it’s someone’s last name lol). People seem to respond really well to the sound of it. But I agree that writing it out makes it seem not quite right sometimes. I’ve gotten used to it now. But it took me a while.
I’m just so sad cause I didn’t care at all what people thought about it if it was a family name. I was proud of it.
We are definitely open to other name options but still heavily attached to Jamus. I just wish there was a spelling we liked that made it more legitimate. But I guess that’s why it’s not really a name.
I think Jamus is fine but it is a name that may have to be clarified, i.e. “not [name_u]James[/name_u], but j-a-m-u-s” and it sounds like you are prepared for that. There are many names that people aren’t familiar with but once they know the correct way to say it, not a big deal. I think you should definitely use it!
My first thought was that you were doing a mashup honor name of [name_u]James[/name_u] and [name_m]Seamus[/name_m] and the name should be pronounced [name_u]Jay[/name_u]-mus. I will say that with brother [name_m]Killian[/name_m] I think [name_m]Seamus[/name_m] works much better, but from a pronounciation standpoint I think Jamus is intuitive.