Ames (surname)

The surname Ames is usually either French, English or German in origin.^[1] The French name comes from the noun amie, meaning a friend or a beloved. The surname also derives from the Old French and Middle English personal name Amys or Amice, the Latin amicus, or from a Late Latin derivative of this, Amicius.^[1] The German roots of the name could have come from the Old High German word amazzig, meaning "busy," as a nickname for an active person.^[1] The name also has connections to the modern German name Ameise, meaning "ant".^[1]

Variations of the surname include Aames, Amass, Amess, Amies, Amis, Amiss, Amos, Hames, Haymes, Eames, and others.^[2] The name may also be a contraction of Ambrose.^[3]

The Ames family is an old and notable family in the United States.

• A. A. Ames (1842–1911), American physician and politician
• Aaron D. Ames, American engineering researcher and academic
• Adelaide Ames (1900–1932), American astronomer, co-author of the Shapley-Ames Catalog
• Adelbert Ames (1835–1933), American Civil War general
• Adelbert Ames Jr. (1880–1955), American scientist
• Adrienne Ames (1907–1947), American film actress
• Aldrich Ames (1941–2026), American convicted spy for the Soviet Union
• Alfred Elisha Ames (1814–1874), American physician and politician
• August Ames (1994–2017), Canadian pornographic actress
• Azel Ames (1845–1908), American physician, author, and public health authority
• Blanche Ames Ames (1878–1969), American artist, inventor, writer, and supporter of women's suffrage and birth control
• Blanche Butler Ames (1847–1939), wife of Gen. Adelbert
• Bruce Ames (1928–2024), American biochemist
• Cheney Ames (1808–1892), American politician from New York
• David Ames (disambiguation), several people
• DeHart H. Ames (1872–1955), American politician from New York
• Ed Ames (1927–2023), American singer and actor
• Eleanor Maria Easterbrook Ames (1831–1908), American writer, publisher
• Eli B. Ames (1820–1898), American politician from Minnesota
• Ezra Ames (1768–1836), American portraitist
• Fisher Ames (1758–1808), American politician from Massachusetts
• Frederick Lothrop Ames (1835–1893), American railroad tycoon
• Frederick Lothrop Ames Jr. (1876–1921), American financier and socialite from Massachusetts, son of the above
• Herman Vandenburg Ames (1865–1935), American historian
• Hermes L. Ames (1865–1920), American politician from New York
• James Ames (disambiguation), several people
• John Ames (disambiguation), several people
• Jonathan Ames (born 1964), American author
• Joseph Ames (disambiguation), several people
• Julia A. Ames (1816–1891), American journalist, editor, reformer
• Leon Ames (1902–1993), American actor
• Lydia May Ames (1863–1940), American painter
• Les Ames (1905–1990), English cricketer
• Mary C. Ames (1831–1884), American journalist, author, poet
• Nathaniel Ames (1708–1764), American almanac maker
• Nadine Ames (born 1991), Indonesian actress and model
• Oakes Ames (1804–1873), American manufacturer and politician from Massachusetts
• Oakes Ames (botanist) (1874–1950), American botanist
• Oakes Angier Ames (1829–1899), American industrialist and philanthropist from Massachusetts
• Oliver Ames (disambiguation), several people
• Rachel Ames (born 1929), American actress
• Ramsay Ames (1919–1998), American movie actress
• Red Ames (1882–1936), American baseball pitcher
• Roger Ames (born 1942), American Anglican priest
• Roger T. Ames, Canadian sinologist, linguist, and translator
• Roy Ames (1937–2003), American record producer and sex offender
• Rosemary Ames (1906–1988), American film actress
• Samuel Ames (1824–1875), American politician from New York
• Samuel Ames (jurist), American jurist from Rhode Island
• Solace Ames, American writer
• Stephen Ames (born 1964), Trinidad and Tobago and Canada golfer
• William Ames (1576–1633), English theologian
• William Ames (Quaker) (died 1662), English preacher
• Winthrop Ames (1870–1937), American producer and playwright; son of Oakes Angier
• The Ames Brothers, 20th-century American singing quartet