JAMES is a form of Jacob and a popular name in the English New Testament. Seven kings of Scotland have also borne the name. It is James I [of England, VI of Scotland] 1566-1625 who gives his name to the King James Bible of 1611. In Scripture we need to be careful to distinguish James the Just, brother of our Lord, James the Less, son of Alphaeus, and James the Great, brother of John.
Though there was only one King John in England John too is a popular name and in the New Testament we have to distinguish between John the Baptist and John the Apostle. In the rest of church history there have been several other Johns designated with similar titles such as John of Antioch (d 441), John of Damascus (c675-c749), John of Montecorvino (c1247-1330), John of Paris (c1250-1306), John of Capistrano (1386-1456), John of Wessel (Johannes Ruchrat c1400-1481), John of Avila (1500-1569), John or Jan of Leyden (Jan Beukelszoon c1509-1536), John of the Cross (Juan de Yepis 1542-1591) and John the Constant (1468-1532), Elector of Saxony and friend of Luther.
Many many Popes have borne the name. Most confusingly two have been known as Pope John XXIII. The first was Baldassare Cossa (c1370-1419), Pope from 1410-1415. He convened the Council of Constance that condemned Hus but also deposed Cossa. He is considered an anti-pope by Roman Catholic historians and so when Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (1881-1963) became Pope in 1958, he also took the same title. Some Protestants saw significance in that at the time. This is the Pope who convened Vatican II. Of Popes called Innocent most famous is Innocent III (Lotario d’Conti 1160-1216), who became Pope in 1198. He excommunicated King John. Innocent I (360-417) became Pope in 402. He is considered a saint. He enforced clerical celibacy. Innocent XI (Benedetto Odescalchi 1611-1689) became Pope in 1676. He was a reformer who tangles with Louis XIV of France.
Coming so far apart in history one is unlikely to be confused about Ignatiuses and Jeromes but it is perhaps worth mentioning that as well as the early martyr Ignatius (d 117) Bishop of Antioch and disciple of the Apostle John, there was Ignatius Loyola (Inigo Lopez de Recalde 1491-1556), founder of the Jesuits. There are many other Ignatii in Catholicism and Orthodoxy.
Similarly, as well as Jerome (Hieronymus, Sophronius Eusebius c345-420), translator of the Latin Vulgate, there is the later Jerome of Prague (c1370-1416) another martyr and a colleague of the proto-reformer Hus. Besides that first St Jerome, the Catholic church suggets there three others - St Jerome of Pavia (fl 778-787), St Jerome Emiliani (1486–1537), Italian humanitarian, founder of the Somaschi Fathers and St Jerome Hermosilla, a Vietnamese martyr.
Two 19th century Jowetts not to be confused are Benjamin Jowett (1817-1893), a Greek scholar who was Evangelical, Tractarian and Liberal by turns. He was tried for heresy but not convicted. John Henry Jowett (1864-1923) succeeded R W Dale at Carrs Lane Congregational Church, Birmingham and, after a stint in America, spent his closing years as pastor of Westminster Chapel, London. William Jowett (1787-1855) was a CMS missionary to the Middle East.
In the nineteenth century there were two clerics at least by the name of John Ireland. The first (1761-1842), an Anglican, is best remembered for using his wealth to promote free education and to endow a chair at Oxford in biblical exegesis. The other (1838-1918) was an Irish American archbishop and founder of the Catholic University of America. Neither of these is to be confused with the English composer who lived 1879-1962 or the earlier Scottish theologian who lived in the fifteenth century.
It is possibly worth mentioning that besides Henry Jacob (1563-1624), founder of the first Congregational church in England there is a Lutheran theologian Henry E Jacobs (1844-1932).
