Ames (surname)
Encyclopedia
The surname
Ames is usually either French
or Hebrew
in origin. The French name comes from the noun
amie, meaning a friend or a beloved. In Hebrew it literally means burden, but is actually derived from the eponymous Hebrew prophet Amos
. The name may also be a contraction of Ambrose
or Eames.
Though it is not common, Ames is also used as a first name.
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
Ames is usually either French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
or Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
in origin. The French name comes from the noun
Noun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
amie, meaning a friend or a beloved. In Hebrew it literally means burden, but is actually derived from the eponymous Hebrew prophet Amos
Amos (prophet)
Amos is a minor prophet in the Old Testament, and the author of the Book of Amos. Before becoming a prophet, Amos was a sheep herder and a sycamore fig farmer. Amos' prior professions and his claim "I am not a prophet nor a son of a prophet" indicate that Amos was not from the school of prophets,...
. The name may also be a contraction of Ambrose
Ambrose
Aurelius Ambrosius, better known in English as Saint Ambrose , was a bishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. He was one of the four original doctors of the Church.-Political career:Ambrose was born into a Roman Christian family between about...
or Eames.
- Adelbert AmesAdelbert AmesAdelbert Ames was an American sailor, soldier, and politician. He served with distinction as a Union Army general during the American Civil War. As a Radical Republican and a Carpetbagger, he was military governor, Senator and civilian governor in Reconstruction-era Mississippi...
(1835-1933), American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
general - Adelbert Ames Jr. (1880-1955), American scientist
- Adrienne AmesAdrienne AmesAdrienne Ames was an American film actress.-Life and career:Born Adrienne Ruth McClure in Fort Worth, Texas, Ames began her film career in 1927 as a stand-in for Pola Negri. Ames was soon cast in small film roles in silent films.With the advent of talking pictures, Ames' popularity grew and she...
(1907-1947), American film actress - Aldrich AmesAldrich AmesAldrich Hazen Ames is a former Central Intelligence Agency counter-intelligence officer and analyst, who, in 1994, was convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and Russia...
(b. 1941), convicted spy for the Soviet UnionSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991.... - Andrew Blake Ames, American dancer and performer
- Blanche Ames AmesBlanche Ames AmesBlanche Ames Ames was an artist, inventor, writer, and prominent supporter of women's suffrage and birth control. Born Blanche Ames in Lowell, Massachusetts, she was the daughter of Civil War General and Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames and Blanche Butler Ames and the sister of Adelbert Ames...
(1878-1969), artist, inventor, writer, and prominent supporter of women's suffrage and birth control - Blanche Butler AmesBlanche Butler AmesBlanche Butler Ames was the wife of Adelbert Ames, a decorated general of the American Civil War and Senator and Governor of Mississippi during Reconstruction....
(1847-1939), the wife of Adelbert Ames (American Civil War general) - Bruce AmesBruce AmesBruce Nathan Ames is an American biochemist. He is a professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior scientist at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute...
(b. 1928), American biochemist - Ed AmesEd AmesEd Ames is an American popular singer and actor. He is best known for his pop and adult contemporary hits of the 1960s like "When the Snow is on the Roses" and the perennial "My Cup Runneth Over." He was part of a popular 1950s singing group called The Ames Brothers.-Early life:Born in Malden,...
(b. 1927), American popular singer and actor - Fisher AmesFisher AmesFisher Ames was a Representative in the United States Congress from the 1st Congressional District of Massachusetts.-Life and political career:...
(1758-1808), Congressman from MassachusettsMassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010... - James Barr AmesJames Barr AmesJames Barr Ames was a American law educator, who popularized the "case-study" method of teaching law developed by Christopher Columbus Langdell. Ames insisted that legal education should require the study of actual cases instead of abstract principles of law...
(1848-1910), dean of Harvard Law School - Jonathan AmesJonathan AmesJonathan Ames is an American author who has written a number of novels and comic memoirs. He was a columnist for the New York Press for several years, and became known for self-deprecating tales of his sexual misadventures. He also has a long-time envy of boxing, appearing occasionally in the ring...
, American author - Joseph Ames (author)Joseph Ames (author)Joseph Ames was an English bibliographer and antiquary. He wrote an account of printing in England from 1471 to 1600, entitled Typographical Antiquities...
(1680-1759), English author - Dr. Joseph Sweetman AmesJoseph Sweetman AmesJoseph Sweetman Ames was a physics professor at Johns Hopkins University, provost of the university from 1926 until 1929, and university president from 1929 until 1935.He was born at Manchester, Vermont...
(1864-1943), founding member of National Advisory Committee for AeronauticsNational Advisory Committee for AeronauticsThe National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics was a U.S. federal agency founded on March 3, 1915 to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958 the agency was dissolved, and its assets and personnel transferred to the newly created National Aeronautics and... - Keith AmesKeith AmesKeith Ames, born 1933 in Canford Cliffs, Poole, Dorset is a former professional footballer who played as a centre forward. In total he made two appearances for Portsmouth.-References:...
(b. 1933), English former professional footballer - Leon Ames (actor)Leon Ames (actor)Leon Ames was an American film and television actor. He is best remembered for playing fatherly figures in such films as Meet Me in St. Louis , as Judy Garland's father, and in Little Women ....
(1903-1993), American actor - Les AmesLes AmesLeslie Ethelbert George Ames, CBE was an outstanding wicket-keeper and batsman for the England cricket team and Kent County Cricket Club. In his obituary, the Wisden of 1991 described him as the greatest wicket-keeper-batsman of all time...
(1905-1990), English cricketer - Oakes Ames (1804-1873), American manufacturer and Congressman from MassachusettsMassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
- Nathan P. Ames (1803-1847) sword manufacturer for the U.S. Army
- Oakes Ames (botanist)Oakes Ames (botanist)Oakes Ames was an American botanist specializing in orchids. His estate is now the Borderland State Park in Massachusetts....
(1874-1950), American botanist - Oliver Ames, Jr.Oliver Ames, Jr.Oliver Ames, Jr. was president of Union Pacific Railroad when the railroad met the Central Pacific Railroad in Utah for the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in North America.-Biography:...
(1807–1877), president of Union Pacific Railroad during the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in North America - Rachel AmesRachel AmesRachel Ames is an Emmy Award Winning American actress. She is the longest-running performer on ABC's longest-running daytime serial, General Hospital, playing Audrey Hardy, R.N. from 1964 to 2007. She also played Audrey Hardy on the General Hospital spin-off series Port Charles...
(b.1929), American actress - Red AmesRed AmesLeon Kessling "Red" Ames was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball for the New York Giants, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, and Philadelphia Phillies.-Major league career:...
(1882-1936), Major League Baseball pitcher - Roger Ames, music industry executive and entrepreneur
- Roger T. Ames, prominent sinologist, linguist, and translator of a version of the Analects of Confucius and the Zhongyong.
- Stephen AmesStephen AmesStephen Michael Ames is a professional golfer on the PGA Tour holding dual citizenship of Trinidad and Tobago and Canada....
(b. 1964), golfer from Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
and CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... - William AmesWilliam AmesWilliam Ames was an English Protestant divine, philosopher, and controversialist...
(1576-1633), English theologian - William Thayer Ames (1901–1987), American composer
- The Ames BrothersAmes BrothersThe Ames Brothers were a singing quartet from Malden, Massachusetts, who were particularly famous in the 1950s for their traditional pop music hits.-Biography:The Ames Brothers got their beginning in Malden, where all four were born...
, a singing quartet
Though it is not common, Ames is also used as a first name.