boy's name
Séimí
SHAY-mee
- Origin Irish
- Gender Boy
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (Ireland)
- Births on record 270
Ireland
#115
2025 births
Séimí is a boy's name of Hebrew origin, the Irish familiar form of Séamus and so of James. It ranks 115th in Ireland, is at its peak in our records, and appears in no other market we hold.
- Séimí is a name of Irish origin.
- Peaked in Ireland in 2025, when 48 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade in Ireland.
- Today about 1 in 934 babies in Ireland is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 2004.
Séimí over time
Births per decade in Ireland, 2000s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 2000s | 3 |
| 2010s | 76 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 187 |
What Séimí means
Séimí inherits the meaning of James: supplanter, or holder of the heel. Genesis supplies both readings, since the newborn Jacob grips his twin's heel and later takes the birthright that was his brother's.
Where Séimí comes from
Séimí is an Irish diminutive of Séamus, which is the Irish form of James, and behind that the Late Latin Iacomus and the Hebrew Ya'aqov. The Genesis account gives the two standard readings at once: Jacob is born gripping Esau's heel, from aqev, and later supplants him. Séamus reached Irish through Norman French rather than directly, in the same wave that brought Seán from Jehan. The -í ending is an Irish affectionate suffix, and Séimí was long a spoken familiar form rather than a registered one; its appearance in the charts is genuinely recent. In Ulster English the same form is written Shamie or Seamie. The name has no anglicization of its own, which is part of why it has stayed within Ireland.
Séimí in use
Séimí ranks 115th in Ireland with 48 births in 2025 and is at its peak in our records this year. Our records carry it only from 2004, which makes it one of the newest names in Ireland's top 200 — a spoken nickname that has become a registered name within one generation. It appears in no other market we hold at all.
How popular is Séimí?
In 2025, Séimí was given to 48 babies in Ireland, ranking #115 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Séimí is used
Irish figures withhold any name given to fewer than three babies in a year, so a gap means the name fell below that floor rather than went unused. The Central Statistics Office began recording the síneadh fada in 2018, so accented and unaccented spellings are counted separately from that year on. Data & sources.
How Séimí is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Seimi | Seimi is Séimí without the fada, and the spelling recorded in Ireland, where it ranks #376. | 64 |
Names that peaked alongside Séimí
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Séimí also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Séimí over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Séimí in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Irish
- Seamus
Sibling names for Séimí
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Séimí — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Séimí
What does the name Séimí mean?
It inherits James's meaning: supplanter, or holder of the heel, from the Hebrew Ya'aqov.
How do you pronounce Séimí?
SHAY-mee. The sé- gives a sh sound, as in Seán.
Is Séimí short for Séamus?
Yes, an Irish affectionate form of it. It has only recently been registered as a name in its own right.
How popular is Séimí?
115th in Ireland, and absent from every other market we hold.
Is Séimí a girl's or a boy's name?
Séimí is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
Is Séimí a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Séimí currently ranks #115 in Ireland. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.